March Madness is the climax of the college basketball season, but it can get repetitive.

Mid-majors, schools outside the five “power conferences” of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, and Southeastern Conference, give March Madness its character, and it is exciting to see them compete against power schools. Slightly increasing the number of mid-major at-large bids would allow for more variety in the March Madness tournament, while still ensuring that the power schools are rewarded for playing tougher schedules.

The same big-name schools like Duke, Michigan, and Houston appear in the tournament almost every year. These “power conference” schools account for most of the tournament slots, leading to repetitive team lineups. 

But whether it is Furman’s last-second 3-pointer to beat Virginia in the 2023 tournament, Oakland stunning Kentucky thanks to former Hillsdale player Jack Gohlke ’23 draining 10 from beyond the arc in 2024, or High Point coming up clutch and defeating Wisconsin this year, March upsets show that smaller schools are capable of competing against the powerhouses.

The NCAA Division I tournament awards automatic bids to the 31 conference champions and 37 “at-large” bids based on factors such as team ranking and strength of schedule. Generally, the only way for a smaller school to make the tournament is for it to win its conference championship.

In this year’s tournament, the NCAA only assigned four at-large bids outside the power conferences. The SEC led the way with nine at-large bids in addition to the automatic spot for conference champion Arkansas.

Last year, the SEC had 14 total bids, which was an NCAA tournament record. Thanks to playing in a tough conference, Arkansas made the tournament that year in spite of having an 8-10 conference record.

By contrast, even though Yale had a 24-7 season record and an 11-3 conference record this season, it did not make the tournament because it lost the Ivy League championship.

The teams in the “power conferences” are full of talent and are able to attract good players thanks in part to having more Name, Image, and Likeness money and the ability to put their players in the national spotlight.

Smaller schools, however, may still have talented players, but they rarely get a chance to prove themselves before March. It is easier to hype up a match between two power schools than one of a power school and a school that few fans have heard of. Teams and advertisers will earn more revenue promoting a game between Duke and Michigan than one between Michigan and Northern Iowa.

Even if a big school’s team is stacked with more talent than a mid-major school, sometimes the difference in play style can throw the opposing team off.

Although it doesn’t happen every year, mid-major schools are often capable of going on deep runs in the tournament, as Florida Atlantic and San Diego State proved in 2023.

While the power conference teams are generally better, the NCAA should give more mid-major teams a chance to prove themselves in March.