After two rounds, the 2025 NCAA Match discipline has been whittled down to only 16 groups and oh how candy it’s.
Nonetheless, followers might have seen there actually is not a Cinderella candidate this 12 months. Actually, precisely zero groups from mid-major conferences will probably be represented within the Candy 16.
However that does not imply the legacies of Cinderellas previous will not be current on Thursday and Friday.
Three groups remaining within the competitors will characteristic one participant every from the 2023 Florida Atlantic squad that reached the Last 4 as a No. 9 seed.
Senior heart Vladislav Goldin transferred to Michigan (5-seed) this season and rapidly turned one of the crucial vital gamers for the Huge Ten Match champions.
He is the workforce’s main scorer, averaging 16.8 points-per-game, and at 7-foot-1 his presence within the paint has been onerous for the opposition (1.4 blocks-per-game).
No. 10 seed Arkansas and head coach John Calipari have benefitted vastly from senior guard Johnell Davis. Like Goldin, his 2024 departure from Boca Raton, Florida made a right away influence within the SEC.
His 11.4 factors and 1.4 steals-per-game (each a workforce greatest) have turned the Razorbacks into the de facto Cinderella because the final remaining double-digit seed on this 12 months’s match.
And the No. 1-seed Florida Gators acquired fifth-year senior Alijah Martin, boosting an already stacked roster that options First-Group All-American Walter Clayton Jr.
Martin is second to solely Clayton in factors (14.6) and assists (2.4), on high of his defensive expertise (1.6 steals-per-game), including a layer to Florida’s depth that would assist win this system’s first nationwide title since 2007.
This re-distribution of athletic wealth could be considered as a symptom of the dawning NIL period, though star gamers from profitable mid-major packages have historically left for energy conferences to spice up potential NBA draft inventory.
These three would be the ones to keep watch over the remainder of the match, hoping to convey a chunk of Florida Atlantic’s magical run to yet one more Last 4.
