Kentucky - even with a reported $22 million NIL

Kansas

Gonzaga

first time since 1990 that at least one of those 3 hasn't been in Sweet 16

Others which fell short:

N. Carolina

UCLA

Indiana - also wasn't part of the 68 this year

So is our problem actually NIL? 🤔

2 hours ago, JabbaNoBargain said:

So is our problem actually NIL? 🤔

Not his point, just an observation.

I didn't watch many Duck games this year, but what I saw suggested serious depth and talent deficits. Whether this was from an NIL deficit, I can't say and will defer to Charles on this one.

My team suffered perhaps the most embarrassing loss of any in the first round, losing badly to a less talented Saint Louis aggregation. They didn't even come close to resembling the spirited group they had been in the regular season. I began to wonder early in the second half if some of the players were on the take to gamblers. No one I know close to the team as any good explanation for how poorly the Dawgs played in this one.

4 hours ago, Nevada Dawg said:

I didn't watch many Duck games this year, but what I saw suggested serious depth and talent deficits. Whether this was from an NIL deficit, I can't say and will defer to Charles on this one.

My team suffered perhaps the most embarrassing loss of any in the first round, losing badly to a less talented Saint Louis aggregation. They didn't even come close to resembling the spirited group they had been in the regular season. I began to wonder early in the second half if some of the players were on the take to gamblers. No one I know close to the team as any good explanation for how poorly the Dawgs played in this one.

Yes, it was a tough outing for Georgia. So far, the Big Ten is getting the benefit of the bounce. The Florida and Vanderbilt losses could have easily gone the other way.

I think 4-seed Arkansas in the West has a decent chance of taking down Arizona and then Purdue, if Texas, behind excellent coach Sean Miller and playing with house money, hasn't already defeated Purdue.

4-seed Bama in the Midwest has the size to pull off a B1G upset and take down Michigan.

It's March, and there will be Madness and mad fans.

Unfortunately, Oregon fans know what it's like for their team to Flounder 😁 in the postseason. 🤬

There is an interesting column in The Athletic about "What has happened to Cinderella?"

The author points out 2-3 factors. Among them: Realignment. Teams like Houston, Cincinnati didn't use to be in Power 5 basketball conferences. Now when they win it is a Power 5 win, not a mid-major upset. The upper-tier mid-majors have realigned themselves into Power 5. There is more Power 5 depth.

Obviously, the no-wait transfer portal. Iowa's upset over No. 1 seed Florida included 4 guys who played the prior year for Drake and the guy who made the winning shot came from Robert Morris. Those 5 guys would have been wearing low-mid-major jersey's a year ago.

Obviously, NIL has created some transfers as well. The best talent is moving from Cinderella to Power 5.

The distribution of talent has affected the absence of some traditional blue-bloods. These schools are not in Sweet 16: Kentucky, Kansas, Gonzaga, N. Carolina, UCLA, Indiana, Syracuse.

Losing Kwame and Shelstad is a BIG blow. But, there are several examples in this year's Sweet 16 of programs that have reinvented themselves. The question becomes, does Oregon currently have the staff (and NIL) that can reinvent? In the games I've watched, there may be more good players spread across college basketball than there has ever been. Can/will Oregon contend for them?

The "Cinderella problem" also has implications for the Tournament. If there are fewer legitimate Cinderella programs, then we should not be surprised when the at-large selections are largely taken by Power 4 conferences, and teams on the margin such as those in the New Pac may be relegated to a slot for the conference champion only. Or, perhaps, this is a reason to justify expanding the Tournament beyond 68 teams? Open new at-large slots to replace the ones consumed by the Power 4?