During this year’s March Madness, the Cinderella stories will be personal

The main characters driving the 2026 NCAA Division I basketball tournament are likely to be players, not teams. Here’s why.

From left: College basketball standouts Oscar Cluff of Purdue, Yaxel Lendeborg of Michigan, and Melvin Council Jr. of Kansas set their sights on a national championship. [Photos: Justin Casterline/Getty Images, Michael Reaves/Getty Images, Christopher Hook/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images]

During last year’s NCAA Tournament, basketball fans complained about the lack of a team-focused Cinderella storyline to define the event. The only double-digit seed to advance to the Sweet 16 was Arkansas, out of the SEC, coached by Hall of Famer John Calipari. That’s hardly the kind of underdog we’re used to seeing.

In 2023, Princeton made it to the Sweet 16, Florida Atlantic lasted until the Final Four, and Fairleigh Dickinson University beat No. 1 seed Purdue. And we’re unlikely to ever see a repeat of 2022, when Saint Peter’s made the Elite 8. 

The 2025 tournament was one of the “chalkiest” of all time, meaning the teams that made the final rounds were pretty much the ones you’d expect. It was actually just the second-ever Final Four in history that featured four No. 1 seeds. 

There are a few factors that account for the change. One is the evolution of the transfer portal—which has turbocharged the process of players transferring from school to school during their college career.

Another is that name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules that allow student-athletes to receive financial compensation fundamentally changed the shape of college sports. Over the past few years, the markets for players have exploded.

Third, teams at the top levels of basketball are simply better than ever, making it much harder for the mid-major programs to compete in even a single game setting. 

But look at the rosters of the best teams in the country, and you’ll find plenty of Cinderella DNA in there.

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