<strong>The Rise of the Cinderella Story</strong

The NCAA men's basket tournament....

• had its most popular year in 1950

• used to be considered unimportant.

• draws fewer viewers than the NIT tournament

• offers spots to teams who cannot compete in the NIT

According to the author, fans…

• enjoy watching surprising outcomes,

• usually root for the top teams in the country.

• prefer fewer teams. compete in the tournament.

• think the tournament has gotten less exciting over time.

The committee...

• tries to help smaller teams win.

• forces power conference teams to play an extra game.

• selects an equal number of teams from each conference.

• requires smaller conference teams to play additional games.

The author suggests....

• the NCAA recent changes make the tournament more fair.

• most viewers would prefer to watch a tournament with only power conference teams.

• teams from smaller conferences would have better chances if they competed in the NIT.

• smaller conferences should considerleaving the tournament if they are not treated equally by the NCAA.

What is the central idea of the text?

• Over time, the committee has made changes to the NCAA basketball tournament to make it fair for underdog schools, but less interesting for viewers.

• While power conference teams are usually seeded unfairly, they almost always find a way to make it to the NCAA.

• 1. The Committee's special treatment of power conference teams undermines underdog teams and compromises the appeal of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

• Since it was founded in 1939, the NCAA men's basketball tournament has fought to compete with the attention given to the NIT tournament and is still struggling to increase its viewership

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   Which detail reveals a criticism the author has of the NCAA tournament? Why does the author not approve of the way the NCAA get viewers to watch the tournament on TV?

• 1. "When the tournament was first played with eight teams in 1939, not much set it apart from the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) founded a year before." (Paragraph 3)

• 1. "The appeal of the underdog, which grew when the tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1975 and 64 teams in 1985, has proven powerful at attracting fans and viewers ever since." (Paragraph 5)

• 1. "The majority of these spots go to teams from the six major conferences, or so-called 'power conferences,' in men's basketball" (Paragraph 7)

• 1. "After all, while the 2023 NIT final drew in just over a million viewers, over 13 million more tuned into the NCAA men's final that same year." (Paragraph 13)

Which statement best describes the relationship between the number of teams in the NCAA men's basketball tournament and its appeal with viewers?

• 1. As the number of teams in the tournament has increased, more people are interested in watching.

• 1. As the number of teams in the tournament has decreased, more people are interested in watching.

• 1. As the number of teams in the tournament has increased, fewer people are interested in watching.

• 1. As the number of teams in the tournament has decreased, fewer people are interested in watching.

What does the author mean by a "Cinderella Story"?

• player finding romance while playing basketball

• 1. an unexpected team winning the championship

• 1. a strong team succeeding over weaker teams

• 1. an unknown coach becoming famous

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"Who gets an invite to the Cinderella Ball (NCAA)?

Write one well-written paragraph persuading the NCAA to create a more fair selection process for smaller schools in the men’s basketball tournament. Use examples from the text and your own experience to support your claim.