Topps Announces March Madness Trading Cards Are Coming
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Trading cards are coming to March Madness. Yesterday, Topps announced, "We're partnering with NCAA to make March Madness trading cards for this year's Men's and Women's tournaments. For the first time ever, we'll be creating on-demand cards of the biggest moments in real-time."
𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐍: We’re partnering with NCAA to make March Madness trading cards for this year’s Men’s & Women’s tournaments.
— Topps (@Topps) March 18, 2025
For the first time ever, we’ll be creating on-demand cards of the biggest moments in real-time. pic.twitter.com/msIaTqSuVg
Bowman U Now, which has previously released cards of debuts, big games, and historic milestones in NCAA Basketball and Football, will now turn its attention to capturing the biggest moments of the NCAA tournaments.
While we can expect to see cards featuring big names like Cooper Flagg and JuJu Watkins, part of the appeal here may also be commemorating the Cinderella stories that have long defined the NCAA tournaments. Think a Bryce Drew Valporaiso card, or from last year, a card featuring Jack Gohlke's Cinderella moment, his 32-point masterpiece in 14-seed Oakland's 80-76 upset of 3-seed Kentucky. If nothing else, it's an intriguing idea for The Hobby, one that will appeal to collectors that chase history.
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For many college stars, Bowman U Now cards are some of their most valuable on the secondary market. While Cooper Flagg's 2024 Topps Chrome McDonald's All-America cards make up most of the top sales, his Bowman U Now offerings have also made a splash. In fact, the current top Flagg sale per Card Ladder is a 2024 Bowman U Now Debut Red Auto Relic Redemption /10, which sold for $5,899.99 on March 10.
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Flagg's 1-of-1 Bowman U Now Debut Card sold for $3,800 on January 5. The base card can be found on Ebay for as little as a dollar. Flagg's Bowman U Now cards are priced all the way up to $4,000.
JuJu Watkins, USC's star guard and presumptive top pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, has also been featured prominently in Bowman U Now during an incredible two-year start to her college career. As highlighted in this recent piece, a redemption for a Watkins autographed game-ball relic /5 is currenlty listed on Ebay for $5,500. Her Bowman U Now's have sold, per Card Ladder, for as much as $2,000. That top sale came on March 10, for a 2024 Bowman U Now Orange auto /5.
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Then, of course, there's Hobby superstar Caitlin Clark. The former Iowa superstar captured the attention of the basketball world during her remarkable time with the Hawkeyes. Clark's top Bowman U Now sale, per Card Ladder is $15,860 for an 1-of-1 featuring the inscription "NCAA Women's All-Time Scoring Champ," which sold on May 4, 2024.
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While a Cinderella like Jack Gohlke missed out on the Bowman U Now train, he did get a few 2024 Panini Prizm Draft Pick cards. They've sold for as little as a dollar (including autos), but the three biggest sales have come since February 1 of this year, ranging from a auto /10 for $107.50 to $250 for his 1-of-1 Sensational Signatures Auto.
It will be interesting to see what Bowman U Now is able to pull off during the tournament when it comes to parallels, autos, and relics, as they perform better on the secondary market. Additionally, particularly when it comes to cards that are notable more for the moment than the star power of the player, it will be fascinating to see both where the print run lands, and if they continue to have appeal in the months after the tournament, when the Madness has died down.
Michael Terry is a writer based in Brooklyn. He specializes in sports, culture, and collecting. His work has appeared at Topps RIPPED, ESPN, Grantland, Vice Sports, and more.
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