Cinderella Runs Are College Basketball’s Ultimate Game-Changer

Part of the beauty of March Madness is that we remember more than just who won the NCAA tournaments.

Sure, we remember Duke and North Carolina, and Kansas, and UConn, and cutting down the nets, but also, we remember the Cinderellas, we remember the stories of the smaller programs that made the runs.

That forever etched in the memory.

We remembered Butler going to back to back championship games in 2010 and 2011, winning close game after close game in both those runs.

And in 2010, having a half-court shot from Gordon Hayward that rimmed out and could have been the greatest moment ever in March Madness history in the championship.

We remember George Mason, four years before that, 2006, shocking Connecticut in the regional final to show up with Jim Larranaga shadowboxing at the Final Four.

Remember VCU in 2011, taking Down Kansas to go to a Final Four.

How about in 2013, Wichita State, which not only beat a lot of big-time teams to get to the Final Four, but then darn near took down eventual champion Louisville in the semifinals.

5 years after that, Loyola, Chicago made its memorable run with Sister Jean, going all the way to that Final Four.

And 5 years hence after that, Florida Atlantic and San Diego State both getting there playing each other in the Final Four, the Aztecs winning on a buzzer beating shot to play in the title game.

None of those teams won titles, but they all changed their trajectory of their program.

Every single.

One of them ended up eventually moving on to new conferences.

San Diego State's still on the way to the Pac-12, but everybody else has upgraded.

The revenue, the exposure were too great.

After you get to that Final Four, the opportunities cannot be passed up, as former Butler athletic director Barry Collier told me , it was a no-brainer for them to end up in the Big East from the Horizon League with a year stopover in the A-10.

Now, the drawback on the other side of that, new conferences, and tougher competition.

None of those schools have been back to a Final Four in their new places.

Maybe they'll get there.

A lot of them haven't even been to the tournament, but they do generally have more tournament access.

They're in leagues that aren't just single bid leagues , giving them more of a chance to get in and try to reprise the magic that they created years ago.

So Cinderella, it can be a life-changing event for an athletic program and for a university.

It doesn't mean it lasts forever, but those moments are worth their weight in gold.