For the first time since 2008, four number-one seeds have advanced to the Final Four in this year’s NCAA College Basketball Championships, and we shouldn’t be surprised.

The tournament committee properly seeded Auburn, Duke, Florida, and Houston, placed them in regions that limited team travel, encouraged home fans to attend, and pitted them against schools such as Norfolk State, Middle Tennessee State, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, as they jogged through opening rounds.

With programs that already attract attention from the best players each year, these four teams also spent plenty of NIL money to acquire top talent. Duke University has an estimated NIL budget of $21.4 million for their basketball squad, Auburn’s estimated NIL budget is $15 million, Florida is estimated to have one of the largest NIL budgets in the SEC, and Houston is funded by billionaire, Jim McIngvale – otherwise known as “Mattress Mack”, the man known for placing million-dollar bets on Houston sports teams.

And when you have money, top talent, and a roster spot to fill, you also have the first pick of the litter when it comes to the transfer portal.

Florida’s All-American point guard, Walter Clayton Jr., started at Iona. Houston’s LJ Cryer transferred in from Baylor. And Auburn’s Johni Broome began his career at Morehead State.

The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. And while Cinderella may be attending the dance, once it’s over, she’s putting her name in the transfer portal the minute the clock strikes midnight.

It’s a recipe for chalk, and the basketball world is concerned.

Credit via Blue i Style

Last time I saw this much chalk – my second-grade teacher had me missing recess and cleaning erasers.

But I have five reasons why this trend is probably not going to continue.

• Tournament history – This is only the second time since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams that four number-one seeds have made it to the Final Four. In fact, in that same period, only five times have three number-one seeds made the Final Four.

Let’s be real. Players being able to transfer without sitting out a year was a major change to the college basketball landscape, and Mid-Major programs are losing their best talent for the money and opportunities at big time programs. But players transfer all the time, teams like Kansas, Louisville, Auburn, and USC have been paying their kids big money for years, and Duke always has the top talent.

And yet, the math says just twice have all four number-one seeds made the Final Four.

It’s been a chalky tournament though. Chalkier than a swig of Milk of Magnesia.

• NIL Money – No doubt that Duke leads the way in securing top talent and apparently, pays accordingly. And the Cooper Flagg NIL deal seems to be working just fine. But Braden Smith (Purdue) got rolled by Houston, Kam Jones (Marquette) failed to get out of the first round, PJ Haggerty (Memphis) lost to a 12-seed, and all those kids made $1 million per deal.

We can argue whether money can buy happiness, but it doesn’t necessarily buy you a spot in the Final Four.

Two of the largest NIL deals were given to Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, both played for Rutgers University, and both will be top ten lottery picks in the NBA next season.

Rutgers finished with a record of 15-17 and failed to make any postseason appearances.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) throws powdered chalk in the air before an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies in Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Even the Elite Eight was chalky with nothing higher than a 3-seed. Chalkier than Lebron during a pregame warmup.

• The transfer portal – The ability for top teams to acquire talent like Sion James (Duke), Malique Brown (Duke), Milos Uzan (Houston), and Alijah Martin (Florida) to help fine-tune their rosters is undoubtedly an advantage. But good luck keeping that talent happy for more than a year.

Take UCLA for example. The Bruins (23-11) bolstered their chances of reaching a Final Four in next year’s tournament after it received a verbal commitment from Donovan Dent, the top transfer portal player out of New Mexico. The lineup looked solid until UCLA’s best all-around player, Aday Mara, told the team later today that he was transferring out.

Duke may have solved the transfer portal problem by loading a team with talented freshman that will simply “transfer” to the NBA next season. But that method doesn’t always work.

John Calipari tried it every year, and yet, his only title came back in 2012.

Speaking of Calipari. I believe his Arkansas Razorbacks (8) were the biggest Cinderella in terms of seeding, in the entire Sweet Sixteen.

Credit via Reddit

Chalkier than a kid on a sidewalk.

• Close calls – The chalkiness of this year’s tournament would have been a non-topic if just a few games would have gone the other way.

12th-seeded CSU would have made the Sweet Sixteen if not for a questionable buzzer-beater by Derik Queen of Maryland (4).

Florida (1) trailed the UConn Huskies (8) for the entire game before advancing 77-75 in the round of 32.

Texas Tech (3) was up by ten points with only 6 minutes left before Florida (1) barely avoided another letdown in the Elite Eight.

Any of those outcomes would have made this a little more like March Madness, and a little less March Blandness.

Last time I saw this much chalk, I was roaming the aisles at Michael’s.

• The Rules Committee – The biggest reason that we are not going to see 4 number-one seeds marching into the Final Four every year from here on in, is because it’s bad for business.

These may be the best four teams in basketball, but the viewing audience, and thus the NCAA, wants a Cinderella – even if it’s just one Mid-Major in the Elite Eight, or a token 5-seed getting wiped out in the Final Four.

So, they’ll mess with the seeding, make up a rule like only one SEC team can be a top seed, try to change the transfer requirements, the NIL rules, or introduce the Cinderella Region where St. Mary’s and BYU battle it out in the Regional Finals somewhere near Provo.

But they’ll do something, because we all love our Cinderellas. And this tournament has been chalkier than the floor of a climbing gym.

Images via Reddit, KAST, BlueiStyle, LATimes, Michael’s

Alan Tapley The Athletic Supporter

Alan Tapley is an educator, author, and blogger who has lived just outside of Boulder for the last twenty years.  His published work includes two novels, two children’s books, a series of cartoons in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and multiple sports related articles. His love for family and the state of Colorado is only matched by one thing, his passion for sports.  The first baseball game he ever attended was at Wrigley Field, before there were lights.  At the final Bronco game at the old Mile High, he allegedly cut out a piece of his seat in the South stands.  But regardless of being here for the Avalanche’s last Stanley Cup, the Rockies only World Series appearance, and all the Broncos’ Super Bowl Victories, his wife never fails to remind him that he wasn’t at the University of Colorado in 1990, like she was.  The year the Buffs football team won the National Championship