The Sweet Sixteen is here and boy do we have a slate of big matchups. I know there has been a lot of hand wringing about the lack of Cinderellas in this tournament (I address this narrative in my column today), but the payoff is that we have an octet of high-powered clashes coming to our screens beginning tonight.

Hoops HQ has it all covered, from the inside story of what makes Alabama’s Mark Sears so unguardable to the return of Florida coach Todd Golden to his Bay Area roots. I’ve picked every game against the spread and our Betting Editor Justin Perri has a couple of special plays as well. And as always, we are keeping our eye on the coaching carousel. Maryland’s Kevin Willard is coaching against Florida tonight. If the Terps lose, he could be Villanova’s coach before the Elite Eight tips off.

We are also covering the women’s tournament and will continue to bring you the best coverage of the transfer portal anywhere, thanks to our partners at The Portal Report. Well over 1,000 players have put their names in the portal, so we are publishing a daily top 10 list so you know which ones you need to follow.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to Hoops HQ, now is a great time, not just because there is so much to cover but also because we are having a Sweet Sixteen sale where you can get an annual subscription for just $16. March Madness has two weeks remaining, but our dedication to covering the world’s greatest sport will go well beyond the first weekend in April. So join us!

Enjoy the games tonight, everyone, and thanks as always for your support of Hoops HQ.

—Seth

Is Cinderella Really Dead? Not So Fast.

By Seth Davis

I’m old enough to remember a time when people complained that too many teams from outside the power conferences had made the Final Four. San Diego State from the Mountain West. FAU from Conference USA. Even Miami from the ACC felt like it didn’t belong. This was heralded as the start of a new era and it was all blamed on the transfer portal. Now that players were available to change schools as if they were surfing through TikTok, the mid-majors, it was said, were on more equal footing. Cinderella didn’t just crash the dance, she was running it — and ruining it.

That was two years ago.

And, of course, it was a phony narrative —just like so many of the narratives people try to impose on the gloriously chaotic enterprise that is the NCAA Tournament...

Transfer Portal Day 3: A Look At the Top 10 Who Entered

By Drew Blouin

On Monday, a record was set as more than 1,000 players from Division I, II and III entered the NCAA’s college basketball transfer portal, the most ever on its opening day.

By Wednesday, that number had grown to more than 1,250 players across all levels.

Hoops HQ is partnered with The Portal Report to bring you comprehensive coverage of all the news happening with the portal. So, here are the top 10 names to enter Wednesday, with analysis on where each might be headed.