Higher Post: The Modern Cinderella Story
...the true villain is nothing but NET.
Congregation, please stand up….
…because its time to challenge the myth of the modern era.
There is something that has been running through my head recently regarding NIL and the transfer portal. Going around the horn of hoops shows, analysts, podcasters and such and you hear the same message.
“NIL and the Transfer Portal are killing the Cinderella”
That has been sticking with me because it didn’t make sense.
The thinking is that the power programs that have a higher level of resources to dangle money in front of upcoming stars and pull them into transferring over to their programs. You can see on the surface why that might be the understanding, after all, there are fewer mid-majors in the tourney, year after year.
But, that is not the effect. That is the plan.
For many years, there has been chatter of the power conferences breaking off the NCAA to start their own national tournament. Basically, the Georgetowns of the world were tired of losing to upstarts like FGCU in the first round. And, Naismith forbid a ‘VCU’ make it to the Final Four.
To solve this issue, the NET ranking was born as the way to put the thumb on the scale for the power conferences. It allows a team to craft a non-con schedule full of Quad 3 and 4 cupcakes for blowout wins (scores matter in the NET), inflating their records going into conference play. As a result, most power conference schools land in the top (or Quad 1) part of the ranking because of their inflated record and point differentials. Just because you beat up on teams ranked in the 300s, does not mean you are necessarily one of the top teams in basketball. But, the NET ranking says you are.
A secondary side effect is that strong mid-majors would fall to Quad 2 or lower. This is not because they are lower quality teams, it’s because it’s a ranking, not a rating. If it was a rating, you would evaluate each team independently. A ranking means the top quarter of the list is the Quad 1, so if the formula is weighted for power teams, smaller teams drop to Quad 2, meaning in conference play, these teams would not have any more opportunities to strengthen their resumes because of the lack of Quad 1 opponents. It’s that simple.
This has never been more clear than the “Little Conference That Does” the Atlantic 10. They have been consistently a multi-bid conference, but have fallen off since the start of the NET ranking. The fan thinking is that the conference has fallen. That is not true as the top teams have challenged anyone willing to play them. The issue is their ability to schedule quality non-conference games because power conferences don’t want the risk. If they win, it will not push up their ranking and, in contrast, a loss hurts more because of the lower NET ranking.
UMass head coach Frank Martin confirmed this in his “Just Being Frank” podcast saying that during his time at South Carolina, the SEC urged member schools not to schedule the Atlantic 10 because of high risk with little reward.
That is not about quality of the conference. It’s the integrity of the NET ranking.
Which is why, when the ACC wanted to move their conference tourney to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where the A10 was scheduled to play, A10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade, didn’t ask for money. She asked for games. That is the currency you need to get tickets punched for March.
Since 2010, the A10 have averaged 3.62 bids in the Dance. Since The NET ranking has been introduced, they average 1.86 bids, with two years as a single-bid entity. This is a clear sign of fewer opportunities for quality wins.
This has also backfired in some ways, because more power conference teams also means teams with conference records under .500 making The Dance, while the strongest mid-majors - the ones who earned their auto-bids - are rising up to upset these teams in the first round. This opened the door for a Saint Peter’s team to make an Elite 8 run on an automatic bid, proving they deserved to be there more than the power conference teams they dismantled in the early rounds.
So, how do we fix this - well, no one wants to hear this, but we need to abolish the NET ranking. Yup, that will never happen.
However, there is some push from analysts to call for other requirements, such as, having a conference record at .500 or higher. If you are under water, you don’t get a bid.
I will also add that if we get expansion (which is likely to happen at some point) the committee should award automatic bids to both the conference tourney winners AND the regular season winners, if those are different. If not, then that opens up another at-large bid. For many of the lower conferences, those winners will be the same so there is plenty of room for the power conferences. This would allow a diversity of teams in The Dance and test the field for a true champion.
Will this happen? Well, a fan can pray.
Don’t worry Hoyas, Dunk City ain’t coming back anytime soon!
The Infoulable!
Tracking the remaining teams who have yet to commit the ultimate sin...of losing.
MBB: Just like the women, we are down to three. And Lil Miami is still there!!!
#1 Arizona Wildcats (16-0 overall, 3-0 Big XII):
✅ Wednesday: Arizona 89 - Arizona State 82
Next: Saturday 1/17 vs. UCF (4p, ESPN)
#2 Iowa State Cyclones (16-1 overall, 3-1 Big XII):
❌ Tuesday: Knasas 84 - Iowa State 63
#8 Nebraska Cornhuskers (17-0 overall, 6-0 B1G):
✅ Tuesday: Nebraska 95 - Oregon 55
Next: Saturday 1/17 vs. Northwestern (4p, BTN)
#10 Vanderbilt Commodores (16-1 overall, 3-1 SEC):
❌ Wednesday: Texas 80 - Vandy 64
NR…but getting votes - Miami of Ohio! (18-0 overall, 6-0 MAC!):
✅ Saturday: Miami 100 - Central Michigan 61
Next: Saturday 1/17 vs. Buffalo (1p, ESPN+)
WBB: …Miss State got close on those Commodores.
#1 UConn Huskies (18-0 overall, 9-0 Big East):
✅ Thursday: UConn 99 - Villanova 50
Next: Monday vs. #23 Notre Dame (5p, FOX)
#5 Vanderbilt Commodores (18-0 overall, 5-0 SEC):
✅ Thursday: Vandy 89 - Mississippi State 84:
Next: Monday 1/9 vs #8 Michigan (2:30p, FOX)
#17 Texas Tech Lady Raiders (19-0 overall, 6-0 Big XII):
✅ Tuesday: Texas Tech 71 - Houston 59
Next: Saturday 1/17 at Kansas State (2p, ESPN+)
We Got Next: Games to watch this weekend! (all times EST)
Conference Play is flying high!
MBB:
Saturday - 12:00 PM: #16 Virginia / SMU (ESPN2)
Saturday - 12:00 PM: Kentucky / #24 Tennessee (ESPN)
Saturday - 2:00 PM: #19 Florida / #10 Vanderbilt (ESPN)
Saturday - 4:00 PM: #1 Arizona / UCF (ESPN)
Saturday - 4:00 PM: #8 Nebraska / Northwestern (BTN)
Saturday - 4:00 PM: #17 Arkansas / #21 Georgia (ESPN2)
Saturday - 8:00 PM: #11 BYU / #15 Texas Tech (ESPN)
WBB: Amazing Triple-Header on Monday!
Sunday - 2p: #20 Tennessee / #21 Alabama (SEC)
Sunday - 2p: Stanford / Syracuse (ACCN)
Sunday - 3p: #6 LSU / #13 Oklahoma (ESPN2)
Sunday - 4p: #12 Maryland / #3 UCLA (NBC)
Sunday - 8p: #15 Michigan State / #11 Iowa (BTN)
Monday - Noon: #14 Ohio State / #10 TCU (FOX)
Monday - 2:30p: #8 Michigan / #5 Vanderbilt (FOX)
Monday - #23 Notre Dame / #1 UConn (FOX)
Five Touches: Passing around the sports world
High School Kid scores 100…in 3 quarters! Maryville High School senior guard Adrian Stubbs had a night scoring 70 in the first half, and being pulled in the 3rd after scoring 100. He broke a decades-long Arizona high school record of 75 that was set in the 60’s
Harvard Understood the Assignment: Harvard WBB gave fans jerseys that say “NERDS 26” on them in proper colors and typeset. They went further with their warmups that said, “Nerds Can Hoop Too” which are also available for sale for the general public.
New Transfer Rules: In an attempt to make it look like they are doing something, the NCAA changed the transfer window to start after the national title game while also shortening the window to 15days. Honestly, this needed to happen. The season ends when it ends, not when they allow kids to transfer.
Always Looking Up to the NBA: Holy Point Shaving! The same confederates behind the NBA betting scandals have also worked their way down into the college game. This is what happens when you align with sports betting while depriving players of fair financial opportunities. Amazingly that this has not affected the WNBA to be honest.
2026 is the new 2016! Remember when trends urged people to actually do things like pour a bucket of ice over your head, or take a spoon of cinnamon? Now it’s just to post pics from 10 years ago. Well, ok. What was I doing 10 years ago? Watching A10 at bars or arenas. The only thing that changes are the teams on the court.
Final Seconds!
Ok, that is it for this week’s Higher Post. Go enjoy the games !
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Always live One Shining Moment at a time. Never be boring.
This is a brillant breakdown of why we dont see upsets like we used to. I never realized how the NET system was basically rigged to keep mid-majors out, but that makes total sense when you look at how many power conference teams make it with losing records. The A10 example is pretty damning - going from 3.62 bids to 1.86 just shows its not about quality at all. It's crazy that we celebrate Cinderella stories but the system actively works against them happening.