By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-03-19 16:37:43
2026年3月19日，星期四，在俄勒冈州波特兰举行的 NCAA 大学篮球锦标赛首轮对阵威斯康星大学的比赛中，高点大学后卫罗布·马丁 (Rob Martin) (3) 与前锋欧文·阿基诺 (Owen Aquino) (8) 一起庆祝。(美联社照片/Craig Mitchelldyer)
“灰姑娘”依然活着。
但还能活多久？
所有人都在试图摆脱她。那些掌管这场“舞会”的老头子们；那些威胁要自立规矩的贪婪守旧者；还有那些根本不敢与“灰姑娘”共舞的阔佬们。
面对重重阻碍，她这周末能挺过去吗？更重要的是，她今年能挺过去吗？
除非那些还没意识到自己多么需要她的人别把事情搞砸。
在周四 NCAA 锦标赛的首个完整下午，她依然在场。她是高点大学 (High Point)，在对阵威斯康星大学 (Wisconsin) 时登上了巅峰。她是锡耶纳大学 (Siena)，在强大的杜克大学 (Duke) 面前毫无惧色。她是麦克尼斯州立大学 (McNeese)，本被认为在对阵范德堡大学 (Vanderbilt) 时必败无疑，却展现出了英勇的斗志。
那些最关注大学篮球的人并不看好这种局面能持续太久。他们指出数据表明，现代规则拉大了豪门与寒门之间的差距。他们说，今年想要在签表预测中胜出，最好的办法是追随高位种子，不要指望在最初的两天之后还会有冷门发生。
他们也许是对的。
但如果“灰姑娘”不断被强迫去跨越额外的障碍呢？关于她的故事能够成真的信念将会消逝。而人们会怀念那段时光。
即便那些贪婪的守旧者和阔佬们也会怀念。
毫无疑问：他们正试图把“灰姑娘”挤出去。像东南联盟 (SEC) 和十大联盟 (Big Ten) 这样的财力雄厚的超级联赛，每次扩张都在朝着这个结果努力。他们坚信自己已经足够强大，如果需要，完全可以自立门户。
与此同时，他们想要更多的大学橄榄球季后赛席位和更多的 NCAA 锦标赛邀请函，哪怕这意味着让一大堆预算充足但表现平平的球队填满名额——这些球队已经证明了自己无法击败联盟中的顶尖球队——哪怕这意味着要确保其他人都无法入围。
这种逻辑的完美体现出现在两周前的 CBS 频道——NCAA 锦标赛的旗舰转播网。一位分析师发表了上述言论，而他恰好是一支表现平平的 SEC 球队教练的父亲。去年，布鲁斯·珀尔 (Bruce Pearl) 计算好了从奥本大学 (Auburn) 退休的时间，以确保他的儿子能接替他的位置，而这支曾在 2025 年打入最终四强的球队却出现了大幅退步。
老虎队最终以 18 胜 16 负的战绩收官，在 SEC 联盟中仅为 7 胜 11 负。他们输给了密西西比大学、密西西比州立大学和俄克拉荷马大学等未能入围锦标赛的球队。尽管如此，珀尔仍在全国电视节目中争辩说，奥本大学比迈阿密大学牛津分校 (Miami (Ohio)) 更有资格进入 NCAA 锦标赛，即便红鹰队 (RedHawks) 在赛季初取得了 32 胜 0 负的战绩，直到联盟锦标赛才遭遇首败。
珀尔的论点呼应了无数大联盟精英主义者的心声，即迈阿密大学牛津分校没有打过任何有实力的对手。但正如在线刊物《Extra Points》的体育记者马特·布朗 (Matt Brown) 在提交了信息公开请求后所发现的那样，红鹰队之所以没有安排更艰难的赛程，是因为无数强力联盟的对手都拒绝了他们的邀约。
这就是系统如何针对潜在的“灰姑娘”们进行暗箱操作的：首先，大佬们拒绝与他们比赛，然后又暗示这些“灰姑娘”才是胆小鬼。
2026年3月18日，星期三，在俄亥俄州代顿举行的 NCAA 锦标赛“最初四强”对阵南卫理公会大学 (SMU) 的比赛后，迈阿密大学牛津分校主教练特拉维斯·斯蒂尔 (Travis Steele)（中）接受采访。(美联社照片/Jeff Dean)
尽管这听起来很恶劣，但这个计谋差一点就成功了。选拔委员会确认，迈阿密大学牛津分校是 68 支入围 NCAA 锦标赛球队中最后一批被选入的，而奥本大学则是第一批被排除在外的。如果结果反过来，红鹰队就将被剥夺在周三那场激动人心的“最初四强”对决中击败南卫理公会大学 (SMU) 的机会。
然而，这并不意味着下一个潜在的“灰姑娘”也能获得同样的疑点利益。这也不太可能打消像 SEC 专员格雷格·桑基 (Greg Sankey) 这样的人的贪婪。他本月告诉其电视网络，如果其他人都随大流，该联盟准备在球员资格问题上制定自己的规则。
此外，还有 NCAA 锦标赛扩军的长期威胁。这听起来像是一个平等主义的想法，直到你意识到大联盟计划利用它为自己霸占更多的席位。如果参赛规模扩大到 76 支、84 支或 128 支球队，而像迈阿密大学牛津分校和高点大学这样的球队必须去争夺同样的残羹剩饭呢？这只会降低另一个“灰姑娘”闯入 16 强 (Sweet 16)、8 强 (Elite Eight) 或最终四强 (Final Four) 的概率。
“他们说我们没打过什么强队——现在我们打过了，”在 12 号种子黑豹队以 83-82 爆冷击败 5 号种子威斯康星大学后，高点大学教练弗林·克莱曼 (Flynn Clayman) 告诉 TNT，“没有人愿意和我们比赛，就像没有人愿意和迈阿密大学牛津分校比赛一样。但在这个锦标赛里，他们必须和我们打。”
而在他们不必再这样做之前？
“灰姑娘”依然活着。
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：Why Cinderella lives in NCAAs, even with more hoops to jump through
Why Cinderella lives in NCAAs, even with more hoops to jump through
High Point guard Rob Martin (3) celebrates with forward Owen Aquino (8) after the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Wisconsin, Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)
Cinderella lives.
But for how long?
They’re all trying to get rid of her. The old men who run the dance. The greedy grumps threatening to make their own rules. The big, rich guys afraid to dance with Cinderella at all.
With all of this stacked against her, can she make it past this weekend? More importantly, can she make it past this year?
Only if the people who don’t realize how much they need her don’t mess it up.
On the first full afternoon of the NCAA basketball tournament Thursday, she was still around. She was High Point, hitting an apex against Wisconsin. She was Siena, looking anything but burnt by mighty Duke. She was McNeese, supposedly bound for the gallows against Vanderbilt but making a valiant effort.
Those who follow college basketball most closely didn’t expect this to last long. They point to the numbers showing that modern rules have widened the gap between the haves and the have-nots. They say the best way to win your bracket pool this year is to ride with the top seeds, and to not count on any upsets beyond the first couple of days.
They might be right about that.
But if Cinderella keeps being forced to jump through extra hoops? The idea that her story can come true will fade away. And people will miss that.
Even the greedy grumps and the big, rich guys will.
Make no mistake about it: They’re trying to squeeze Cinderella out. Financial superpower leagues like the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten have been angling for that result every time they’ve expanded, and they’ve convinced themselves that they’re so big and so powerful that they’ll be able to go it alone if they have to.
In the meantime, they want more College Football Playoff berths, and more NCAA tournament dance invitations, even if that means filling those events with a bunch of mediocre big-budget teams who’ve already proven they can’t beat the best teams in their conferences, and even if that means making sure nobody else can.
A perfect distillation of this logic was espoused a couple of weeks ago on CBS, the flagship network of the NCAA tournament, by an analyst who happens to be the father of a mediocre SEC team’s coach. Last year, Bruce Pearl timed his retirement from Auburn to make sure his son would replace him, and a program that made the 2025 Final Four took a big step back.
The Tigers finished with an overall record of 18-16. They went 7-11 in the SEC. They lost to non-tournament teams like Mississippi, Mississippi State and Oklahoma. And still, Pearl was arguing on national TV that Auburn had more of a right to make the NCAA tournament than Miami (Ohio) did, even though the RedHawks started their season 32-0 and didn’t lose until their conference tournament.
Pearl’s argument, which echoed those of countless major conference elitists, was that Miami (Ohio) hadn’t played anybody of substance. But as a sports writer named Matt Brown of the online publication Extra Points discovered when he filed a freedom of information request, the reason the RedHawks didn’t play a tougher schedule is because countless power-conference opponents turned them down.
This is how the system gets rigged against the would-be Cinderellas. First the big guys refuse to play them, then they imply that the Cinderellas are the ones who are chicken.
Miami (Ohio) head coach Travis Steele, center, is interviewed following a First Four college basketball game against SMU in the NCAA Tournament in Dayton, Ohio, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
As egregious as it sounds, this gambit almost worked. The selection committee confirmed that Miami (Ohio) was one of the last teams included in the 68-team NCAA tournament bracket, and Auburn was one of the first teams left out. Had it gone the other way, the RedHawks would’ve been denied the chance to beat SMU in what turned into an electric First Four scene on Wednesday.
That doesn’t mean the next would-be Cinderella will get the same benefit of the doubt, though. And it isn’t likely to dissuade the avarice of men like SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who told his TV network this month the league is prepared to institute its own rules on matters of eligibility if everybody else goes along.
Then there’s the perennial threat of NCAA tournament expansion, which sounds like an egalitarian idea until you realize the major conferences plan to use it as a way to hog more bids for themselves. If the field expands to 76, or 84, or 128, and the teams like Miami (Ohio) and High Point have to fight for the same scraps? It’ll only decrease the odds that another Cinderella makes it to the Sweet 16, or the Elite Eight, or the Final Four.
“They said we ain’t played nobody—we played somebody now,” High Point coach Flynn Clayman told TNT after the 12th-seeded Panthers’ 83-82 upset of fifth-seeded Wisconsin. “Nobody would play us. just like nobody would play Miami-Ohio. But they gotta play us in this tournament.”
And until they don’t have to do that anymore?
Cinderella lives.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News