Outclassed boxer, NCAA Cinderellas have no real chance to win

NFL Sunday aside, sports headlines the last several days have been dominated by the opening round of the College Football Playoff and influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul’s latest boxing match as a sizable underdog against former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

In both the games and the fight, it was a bad weekend for big underdogs.

The sports world was abuzz with football and an anticipated — if oddly sanctioned — boxing match between the 200-pound Paul (12-1, 8 KOS), and the 250-pound, Olympic gold medalist Joshua (28-4, 24 KOs) — truly one of the most dangerous power-punchers alive.

The size difference in the much smaller Paul, who usually fights under a 200-pound limit, and the behemoth Joshua, who looks like a literal carving of stone, should have been enough to make this mismatch a sideshow from the start. Throw in the skill, years of training, experience and power differences — Paul never had even a puncher’s chance.

I do want to show some due respect to Paul. He has turned his career, if it may be called that, into more money than any of us will ever see. He also has done a lot as a promoter for women’s boxing and pays his fighters very well.

He does not lack courage, either. I would submit to you it is entirely different to sit on your couch while drinking beer, watching the fight, while proclaiming, “I would fight Anthony Joshua for $90 million!” than actually stepping into the ring with him. Paul has worked extremely hard and is a success. Good for him.

And Paul did, in fact, land a well-timed overhand right flush to Joshua’s jaw on two occasions. But Paul’s best shot wasn’t nearly enough, and Joshua’s strength of schedule spoke for itself, as oddsmakers correctly predicted.

Perhaps Tulane and James Madison can relate.

The non-Power 5 representatives in the college football playoff were dismantled on Saturday: Ole Miss 41-10 over Tulane. Oregon 51-34 over James Madison.

The playoffs played over the weekend provided two games that lived up to the hype, with Alabama defeating Oklahoma and Miami topping Texas A&M in heavyweight matchups. Back and forth action, with both teams landing body blows.

The other two quarterfinal games more resembled Joshua breaking Paul’s jaw in two places as a near 10-to-1 betting favorite – a fight that only lasted as long as it did, mercifully, because Paul ran, grabbed and attempted semi-takedowns to Joshua’s legs as long as he possibly could to stay alive. But his fate was just a matter of time, and eventually he fell, battered and beaten, his face literally broken.

There has never been a larger gap between the haves and the have-nots in college athletics.

For hopeful NCAA Cinderellas, it is more difficult than ever to make an unexpected run. NIL has tilted the playing field even further toward your typical powerhouses, with the financial support and fan bases to attract top coaches and players year after year. Simply put, it is more expensive than ever to compete.

It’s not just football that has been impacted. The 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament saw essentially no upsets, with only three lower seeds winning in round one and Arkansas making a run to the Sweet 16 as the biggest surprise of the tournament.

If this is meant to be David against Goliath, David at least needs to keep hold of a stone.

Steph Curry reportedly turned down an offer from Duke after his sophomore season. Upset at them for not recruiting him out of high school, he stayed at Davidson out of principle. Fact is, Curry comes from an assumably secure financial environment; his dad played in the NBA for a decade. But there also (presumably) wasn’t millions of dollars of NIL money on the table, either. In 2025? We likely don’t get a magical run by Davidson.

Twenty years ago, things would have been so much different on the football field, too. There were many years when non-power conference schools could have been dangerous in a college football playoff. Numerous Boise State teams, including the one that defeated Oklahoma 43-42 in 2007, would have been a problem for anyone. Utah (2004, 2008) beat Alabama and Nick Saban, UCF (2017) claimed a national championship although it didn’t get to play for one, and TCU (2010) had one of the best defenses of the last half-century. These teams could have potentially won a playoff. Ball State even had an excellent team in 2008.

But now? The ability for a team like Troy to recruit Demarcus Ware back in the day? Insurmountably harder today. And if you do successfully recruit him, and perhaps you find a diamond in the rough? After he has 11 sacks as a freshman, he’ll be at Georgia as a sophomore.

The argument from my SEC-partial friends has always been that these smaller schools couldn’t compete with the week-in, week-out grind of an SEC schedule. I agree with that completely, as depth would become a serious issue. But there have still been multiple non-Power 5 schools that could have won a three-game tournament.

But now, they are left too void of legit talent and resources, as more and more go to the few and well-funded powerhouses. Cinderella now is left to playing like Paul: running and grabbing while trying to survive as long as possible. … all while awaiting the inevitable knockout blow.

Now, they have no real chance. Not even a puncher’s chance.