ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas rejected claims that Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals have eliminated parity in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, arguing that one tournament outcome does not constitute a trend.[1][2]
Bilas, a former Duke guard who played from 1982 to 1986 and reached the 1986 NCAA championship game, made the comments in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.[1][3] He referenced the 2023 Final Four, which featured no No. 1 regional seeds: UConn (No. 4 East), Florida Atlantic (No. 9 East), San Diego State (No. 5 West) and Miami (No. 10 South). San Diego State advanced to the championship game, losing to UConn 76-59.[4][5]
"Each of these tournaments is different. And again, one data point doesn't make a trend," Bilas said. He noted that all four No. 1 regional seeds reached the 2008 Final Four -- Kansas (Midwest), North Carolina (East), UCLA (South) and Memphis (West) -- nearly 13 years before the NCAA's interim NIL policy took effect on July 1, 2021.[1][4][6]
Bilas also addressed the transfer portal, questioning whether players remaining at one school before its expansion constituted loyalty or simply a lack of options. "Coaches do it when a team at a smaller school does really well, the coach comes up to the bigger school, but the players can't," he said.[1]
"On the court, it's never been better," Bilas added, stating that players are more skilled and the game has matured in recent years.[1]
Sources
- Fox News Digital. "Jay Bilas not buying that March Madness is dead thanks to NIL." Accessed February 5, 2025. https://www.foxnews.com/sports/jay-bilas-march-madness-nil-transfer-portal
- ESPN. "Jay Bilas Bio." Accessed February 2025. https://www.espnpressroom.com/us/bios/jay-bilas/
- Wikipedia. "Jay Bilas." Last edited February 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Bilas
- NCAA.com. "2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament." March 20, 2023. https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-03-20/2023-ncaa-bracket-march-madness-printable-68-team
- NCAA.com. "2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship - All-time Final Four teams." April 3, 2023. https://www.ncaa.com/history/basketball-men/d1
- NCAA.org. "NCAA adopts interim name, image and likeness policy." June 30, 2021. https://www.ncaa.org/news/2021/6/30/name-image-likeness.aspx
