Happy March Madness to all who celebrate! I’ve included some links below to news and noteworthy launches, and my latest podcast appearance on the Healthy Sports Parents Podcast: a worthy venture! But without further ado, this tournament has got me thinking…

Bad news for March Madness. The Cinderella story is probably dead. But the good news is the Dynasty era is probably over too. 

That means the March Madness tournament will have more actual contenders and therefore better competition each year (the games have been great thus far). NIL and the transfer portal have caused many well-documented problems, but the one thing they have solved for is parity... for the power four programs, at least.

Just as in the pro ranks, free agency killed the ability to keep teams together, so too will it sunset in the college ranks. As we just saw in the college football playoff, Indiana [checks notes] just had a Heisman winner AND won the National Championship!

Not only that, but the final four in football was Miami, Indiana, Ole Miss, and Oregon: Hardly the dynasties of this recent era. This CFP era was dominated by four programs, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, and Clemson. Those four schools account for nine out of the 11 CFP titles.

The parity and the 12 team playoff have created more interest in college football, and ratings are at an all time high. These signs in football are an indicator of what's coming in basketball, and we're seeing some of it now. Iowa hasn't been to a Final Four since 1980, and Nebraska just got their first win this year and they're battling it out in the Sweet 16.

Arkansas, who've been lost in the wilderness, has hired Calapari and with the help of the Tyson's chicken empire, they can now be competitive again.

St. John's just needed one billionaire from their alumni to return them to glory as well. It's 10 to $20 million to get to a sweet 16. That is much more doable for programs than the roughly $40 million it would take to get a football contender.

So, all they need is one rabid booster and they can compete again. This spells bad things for the smaller programs that can’t raise that kind of money, but many of the Power 4 programs can fund a good basketball team and that’s reflected in this year’s tournament.
Enjoy!

More Content:

My latest YouTube Video hits the PGA Show to the latest cool brands & businesses coming in golf! Join me.

I joined the Healthy Sports Parents Podcast last week. They’re doing great work trying to develop a healthy  relationship with sports in parenthood. It’s NEEDED!

Inspiration:

A project I’ve been working on for months finally got to see the light of day this week. We’ve been building some intrigue for this through social and now the announcement has been made. Maybe that should be the newsletter next week?

Bandit continues to show great ways to push your reach. In this case, their director getting tons of traction on a great piece.

Reebok announces Darius Acuff Jr as their newest Signature Shoe athlete. He won’t be able to wear that until he’s in the NBA as his college team (Arkansas) is a Nike school and they’re required to wear Nike on court.

Crazy View from Oakley Metas by Logan Paul at the Fanatics Flag Football Game this past week. 

Blessings:

Blessed to get to do what I love. I’m grateful for the opportunity to do this and I appreciate you reading if you made it this far! YOU are the people who allow me to do this.
Thank you.