After two rounds, the 2025 NCAA Tournament field has been whittled down to just 16 teams and oh how sweet it is.
However, fans may have noticed there really isn’t a Cinderella candidate this year. In fact, exactly zero teams from mid-major conferences will be represented in the Sweet 16.
But that doesn’t mean the legacies of Cinderellas past won’t be present on Thursday and Friday.
Three teams remaining in the competition will feature one player each from the 2023 Florida Atlantic squad that reached the Final Four as a No. 9 seed.
Senior center Vladislav Goldin transferred to Michigan (5-seed) this season and quickly became one of the most important players for the Big Ten Tournament champions.
He’s the team’s leading scorer, averaging 16.8 points-per-game, and at 7-foot-1 his presence in the paint has been onerous for the opposition (1.4 blocks-per-game).
No. 10 seed Arkansas and head coach John Calipari have benefitted greatly from senior guard Johnell Davis. Like Goldin, his 2024 departure from Boca Raton, Florida made an immediate impact in the SEC.
His 11.4 points and 1.4 steals-per-game (both a team best) have turned the Razorbacks into the de facto Cinderella as the last remaining double-digit seed in this year’s tournament.
And the No. 1-seed Florida Gators acquired fifth-year senior Alijah Martin, boosting an already stacked roster that features First-Team All-American Walter Clayton Jr.
Martin is second to only Clayton in points (14.6) and assists (2.4), on top of his defensive skills (1.6 steals-per-game), adding a layer to Florida’s depth that could help win the program’s first national title since 2007.
This re-distribution of athletic wealth can be viewed as a symptom of the dawning NIL era, although star players from successful mid-major programs have traditionally left for power conferences to boost potential NBA draft stock.
These three will be the ones to keep an eye on the rest of the tournament, hoping to bring a piece of Florida Atlantic’s magical run to yet another Final Four.
