March Madness is living up to its name this year. Since the NCAA tournament began on Thursday, we have seen numerous upsets and Cinderella headlines dominating our newsfeed.
During the first weekend of the tournament, we’ve already lost nine of the 16 highest ranked teams in the field of play, including two No. 1 seeds. Virginia was the No. 1 overall team but a historic loss sent them home right out the gate.
There's never been a 5-7, 5-11, 7-9, or 9-11 matchup played in tournament history. We're guaranteed to get one of these in the Elite Eight.
— Bracket Project (@bracketproject) March 19, 2018
On Sunday alone, five heavyweights including the defending national champions North Carolina all couldn’t survive the weekend. Many are wondering why so many upsets? One main reason could be the one and done players all around the NCAA.
Cinderella Teams Have Chemistry
The one and done, seems to be the main reason for all these upsets. Most of the perennial powerhouse programs have blue chip player who aren’t sticking around more than a year. The last five defending national champions didn’t reach the second weekend of the tournament the following year.
Players aren’t sticking around anymore to form any kinda consistency and to be honest, most don’t care about an NCAA championship, when their about to cash in on the next level.
When you see a team like Nevada and Syracuse advancing, the common denominator seems to be experience. Teams with juniors and seniors, play together more collectively compared to teams with freshman studs.
