Sports
Where’s the March Madness? Making sense of the NCAA Tournament’s Cinderella shortage
The Athletic has live coverage of 2025 Men’s March Madness
CLEVELAND — Trailing by one with less than eight minutes remaining, Robert Morris guard Amarion Dickerson swatted a shot attempt by Alabama guard Mark Sears, sending the first-team All-American to the floor and the ball caroming out of bounds. Then Dickerson, the suddenly not-so-anonymous Horizon League defensive player of the year who scored 25 points on Friday, stepped over Sears, a la Allen Iverson over Tyronn Lue, and flexed for the crowd.
Thousands roared back their approval, a throng of Robert Morris diehards who made the trek from Pittsburgh buoyed by an arena of new fans who had adopted the underdog.
Seconds later, the 15-seed Colonials harnessed that momentum, taking a one-point lead over the 2-seed Crimson Tide. And for a moment, the game felt destined for a classic David-over-Goliath upset, the stuff March Madness montages are made of.
Instead, Alabama ripped off a quick 6-0 run and never looked back, muscling its way to a nine-point victory.
It was the story of the round of 64 in this year’s NCAA Tournament. For the first time since 2017, no team seeded lower than No. 12 made it to the Saturday of the first weekend.
Only five double-digit seeds advanced over the past two days: two No. 10s, one No. 11 and two No. 12s. (And of those 12-seeds, Colorado State was a betting favorite.) That ties for the fewest first-round wins by double-digit seeds since 2007. The 2023 tournament produced the same number, but that first weekend featured No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson toppling No. 1 Purdue and No. 15 Princeton reaching the Sweet 16. Prior to that were similarly chalky first rounds in ’17 and ’15.
The fact that most of the games weren’t particularly close didn’t help this year’s early shortage of March magic, either: Only four of the 32 first-round games were decided by two possessions or less, the fewest since 1997. We did get a couple thrillers at the First Four in Dayton, but Thursday and Friday were noticeably light on madness.
So what’s the deal? Is it a one-year, one-round aberration? Or is it — like everything else in college sports these days — a referendum on the power-hungry power conferences, or the pernicious impact of name, image and likeness money and the transfer portal fully taking hold?
The Athletic’s own C.J. Moore and Brendan Marks actually predicted this could happen in their bracket picks earlier this week, getting out in front of any commenters looking to skewer them for playing it safe. As both explained, the advanced metrics pointed to a top-heavy group of No. 1s and other high seeds, which manifested on the court.
This could end up being a good omen for the second and third weekends, setting up some high-wattage matchups. And recent history, including a comparably top-heavy 2015, suggest this is simply a product of the natural cycles of college basketball. But it’s still kind of a bummer.
The joy and beauty of the NCAA Tournament lie in those unpredictable early-round upsets, the ones we can all rattle off from memory. FDU over Purdue. UMBC over Virginia. Lehigh over Duke. Saint Peter’s over Kentucky. Bucknell over Kansas. Cinderella is what makes March so special, making this one feel a tad hollow in the early going.
“Sometimes I hate them,” said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, who lost to 15-seed Middle Tennessee in 2016. “But most of the time, I love them. … Everybody loves Cinderella. Everybody loves the underdog. Everybody loves the small school. This is the difference with the NCAA basketball tournament compared to just about any other tournament there is.”
Minutes after the clock struck midnight, literally and metaphorically, on the first round, Izzo avoided another of those memorable moments he’d rather forget. His 2-seed Spartans turned a narrow five-point halftime lead over 15-seed Bryant into a 25-point blowout, a fitting capper to the round of 64. Asked afterward about the predictability of the first round overall, Izzo, coaching in his 27th straight tournament, mostly shrugged, and pointed to those 12 seeds that prevailed over 5 seeds. The man has seen it all this time of year, and he’s not ready to sound any alarms just yet.
He’s probably right. March Madness remains one of sports greatest gifts, even if the glass slippers didn’t quite fit this time around. Perhaps the rest of the bracket will make up for it, too.
But it won’t change the fact that one of this tournament’s most electrifying moments came a few hours before Michigan State took the court in Cleveland, when Robert Morris — America’s new favorite team — had mighty Alabama on the ropes.
And almost something more.
(Photo: Nick Cammett / Getty Images)
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The Seattle Seahawks locked down the top seed in the NFC playoffs and a strong path to the Super Bowl on Saturday night with a season finale win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle also finished with their best regular season record in franchise history, clinching 14 wins for the first time ever.
The Seahawks held on to a 10-point victory despite outgaining the 49ers 363 yards to 173, and running 64 plays to San Francisco’s 42.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks fails to catch the ball against Ji’Ayir Brown #27 of the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL game on Jan. 3, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)
Seattle missed a field goal in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over on downs in the first quarter to waste two red zone drives, but dominated on defense to prevent those missed opportunities from coming back to haunt them.
The 49ers wasted their best drive of the night as well when quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted at Seattle’s three-yard line in the fourth quarter facing a 10-point deficit, which seemingly secured the game for the Seahawks.
NFL WEEK 17 SCORES: AFC NORTH, NFC SOUTH UP FOR GRABS AS PLAYOFF PICTURE ALMOST COMPLETE
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, in his first season on the team, completed 20 passes on 26 attempts for 198 yards and helped set up the only touchdown of the entire game in the first quarter.
Darnold redeemed a disappointing Week-18 game for the Minnesota Vikings last season when he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards in a battle for the top seed against the Detroit Lions.
Darnold said “Learning from mistakes, and staying calm from the pocket,” made the difference in his performance Saturday compared to a year ago, in a postgame interview with ESPN.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter of a game at Levi’s Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had just 127 yards with the late interception, and took a big hit on his final pass of the night, then took a while to get back up. He was eventually able to walk off the field, and Seattle ran the clock out.
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When it’s Harvey Kitani versus David Rebibo in a high school basketball coaching matchup, you know it’s going to be a defensive grind. They demand defensive production, so Rolling Hills Prep and Harvard-Westlake went at it for 32 minutes on Saturday night at St. Francis.
It took four consecutive free throws by Joe Sterling in the final 21 seconds for Harvard-Westlake (17-2) to hold on for a 50-46 victory. About the only mistake Rolling Hills Prep (13-5) made was choosing to foul Sterling, well known as a clutch free-throw shooter. But the Huskies had no choice after a three by Aaron Heinze got them to within 48-46 with 2.6 seconds left.
Sterling finished with 16 points. Pierce Thompson had 14 points and Dominique Bentho added 11 points and 12 rebounds. Nick Welch Jr. had a big game for Rolling Hills Prep with 21 points on eight-for-14 shooting. Carter Fulton added 10 points.
Santa Margarita 72, Fairfax 41: The Eagles (19-2) opened a 21-2 lead after the first quarter and cruised to victory at St. Francis. Brayden Kyman scored 21 points, Kaiden Bailey had 17 and Drew Anderson had 15.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 67, JSerra 62: Kayleb Kearse finished with 27 points in the victory. Jaden Bailes had 30 points for JSerra.
Sierra Canyon 77, Phoenix St. Mary’s 45: The Trailblazers (13-1) tuned up for the start of Mission League play with a rout in Arizona. Brandon McCoy scored 18 points and Brannon Martinsen had 17.
Chaminade 70, Palos Verdes 44: Temi Olafisoye had 17 points for the 18-1 Eagles.
Thousand Oaks 53, Oak Park 46: The Lancers won their 16th consecutive game to stay unbeaten. Gabriel Chin had 14 points.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 67, Layton Christian (Utah) 64: NaVorro Bowman led the Knights (13-4) with 24 points. Josiah Nance added 16 points.
Bishop Montgomery 71, Palisades 68: Austin Kirksey had 24 points and Tarron Williams scored 22 points to help Bishop Montgomery improve to 15-2. Freshman Phillip Reed scored 24 points for Palisades.
Crespi 60, Modesto Christian 49: The Celts improved to 13-6.
St. John Bosco 62, Chandler (Ariz.) Basha 54: Christian Collins scored 31 points and Max Ellis had 22 for the Braves in a win in Arizona.
Mayfair 69, Cypress 56: Josiah Johnson’s 27 points helped Mayfair improve to 8-5.
Inglewood 98, Pasadena 97: Jason Crowe Jr. made the game-winning shot in overtime and finished with 51 points for Inglewood.
Girls basketball
Harvard-Westlake 51, Phoenix Desert Vista 39: Freshman Lucia Khamenia finished with 24 points for Harvard-Westlake.
Brentwood 59, Cardinal Newman 53: The Eagles improved to 9-4. Kelsey Sugar scored 24 points.
Saugus 57, Birmingham 52: Kayla Tanijiri had 16 points for Birmingham (13-3).
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Only one more week of the 2025 NFL regular season remains, as Week 17 brought about some more playoff implications and even 2026 NFL Draft key positions.
The biggest takeaway from the slate of Week 17 is that two divisions in the NFL — the AFC North and NFC South — will be determined by whoever wins key matchups in Week 18.
First, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers getting upset by the Cleveland Browns at home, as Aaron Rodgers couldn’t find Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a controversial game-ending play in the end zone. That loss sets up the AFC North title game between the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, which is only possibly thanks to a road victory where Derrick Henry scored four touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers.
Then, despite both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers losing their respective matchups, the NFL tiebreakers make their Week 18 bout the NFC South title game.
Aaron Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Steelers reacts during the second quarter of the game against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field on Dec. 28, 2025, in Cleveland. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
And while everyone was focused on the NFL playoff picture, the two-game 4 o’clock slate gave us the New York Giants against the Las Vegas Raiders, the winner of which owning the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
The Giants would’ve solidified the pick with a loss, but Jaxson Dart and the Giants’ offense blew out Geno Smith and the Raiders to relinquish the pick, which now belongs in Sin City.
NFL WEEK 16 SCORES: PLAYOFF PRESSURE LEADS TO THRILLING FINISHES ACROSS LEAGUE
Here’s how every NFL game played out:
THURSDAY, DEC. 25
– DALLAS COWBOYS 30, WASHINGTON COMMANDERS 23
– MINNESOTA VIKINGS 23, DETROIT LIONS 10
– DENVER BRONCOS 20, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 13
Dak Prescott (4) of the Dallas Cowboys celebrates after his team’s touchdown against the Washington Commanders in the second quarter of a game at Northwest Stadium on Dec. 25, 2025 in Landover, Maryland. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
SATURDAY, DEC. 27
– HOUSTON TEXANS 20, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS 16
– BALTIMORE RAVENS 41, GREEN BAY PACKERS 24
SUNDAY, DEC. 28
– CINCINNATI BENGALS 37, ARIZONA CARDINALS 14
– CLEVELAND BROWNS 13, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 7
– NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 34, TENNESSEE TITANS 26
– JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 23, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 17
– MIAMI DOLPHINS 20, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 17
– NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 42, NEW YORK JETS 10
– SEATTLE SEAHAWKS 27, CAROLINA PANTHERS 10
– NEW YORK GIANTS 34, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS 10
– PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 13, BUFFALO BILLS 12
– SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS-CHICAGO BEARS (TBD)
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MONDAY, DEC. 29
– LOS ANGELES RAMS-ATLANTA FALCONS (TBD)
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