If you just started paying attention to the NCAA men's basketball tournament this past weekend, your big takeaway likely was that all four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. Perhaps you also noticed that higher seeds went 12-0 in the regional semifinals and finals.

If you started paying attention the weekend before, you probably heard that every team in the Sweet 16 was from a major conference (including 15 of the 16 from the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 combined).

The closest we got to a Cinderella team was Niko Medved's Colorado State squad, which came within a controversial late basket of upsetting Maryland in the second round as a No. 12 seed. We also might still be waiting on Medved's introductory news conference as Gophers coach if the game had turned out differently.

Medved was one of nine NCAA tournament coaches who have left for other jobs. The flow of mid-major coaches to higher-level programs isn't new, but the gush of players from smaller to bigger schools — brought on by the transfer portal and particularly the flood of NIL money — is still new.

And it's only going to increase next year when revenue sharing enters the picture and bigger schools have the most to give. All of that necessitates this question: Are we witnessing the death of Cinderella in the NCAA men's tournament?

It's always dangerous to draw conclusions from small sample sizes. Patrick Reusse and I talked about that in the context of the Twins on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast.

But Reusse made a great point, which is this: While we shouldn't overreact to limited information like an opening sweep, we also shouldn't underreact or ignore the evidence of our eyes and ears.

The same goes for examining this year's men's tournament and whether what is happening now will become the new normal.

It's useful to look at recent history for more evidence. Last year's Final Four featured a No. 11 seed (North Carolina State) and No. 4 seed (Alabama) along with two No. 1s (UConn and Purdue). But N.C. State was the only team lower than a No. 6 seed to make the Sweet 16. And the title game was won by No. 1 overall seed UConn over fellow No. 1 Purdue.

What figures to happen even more in the future is this: Mid-major or small conference teams — squads that have typically thrived in the past on continuity and four-year players — will have a harder time keeping teams together because breakout players will get paid big money by major conference programs flush with NIL and revenue sharing cash.

The sophomore who might have become an even better junior or senior will do so at a bigger school now. This year's Final Four rosters are full of transfers who fit that or a similar description.

This will potentially enhance the quality of play in the Sweet 16 and Final Four as most teams will be stocked with plenty of talent.

But it very well could make it a major-conference affair, with this year being the start of a real trend.