Don't cry for Cinderella. Nebraska, John Calipari, Duke can save March Madness

My preferred March Madness goes like this: Cinderellas wreak havoc in the first round, before the big dogs take over in the Sweet 16 and beyond. Give me that opening round dopamine hit of a classic 12 vs. 5 upset, a 13 slaying a 4-seed, a 14 toppling a 3.

Thursday and Friday shrine brightest when filled with buzzer-beaters that go in favor of teams like Furman, Saint Peter’s, Princeton and Oakland. Bold predictions: A No. 1 seed is going down in the Sweet 16 Then, give me chalk, Hall of Fame coaches , big-branded muscle and superstars trading buckets.

In the ideal March Madness, enough top seeds survive and eliminate Cinderella around the second round or so, so that many of the best teams and the top players are still playing and entertaining in the Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four. If Cinderella keeps winning, we get what happened in 2023. That year, underdogs shined in Round 1, then kept advancing until the Final Four included No.

9 Florida Atlantic and two 5-seeds. The tournament had been great up to that point, before UConn tore through the Final Four in a dominant but boring finish. I prefer the games to keep getting better through the end of the tournament — like we had last season, when all three games at the Final Four site were 40-minute thrillers, on the heels of a compelling Sweet 16 and decent Elite Eight.