Four Social Media Storylines After March Madness

I took an extra day to write this newsletter as I wanted to wait until the end of March Madness. Now, that the men’s and women’s tournaments are over, it’s time to breakdown the biggest social media storylines from the last weekend of March Madness.

Wasn’t that an action packed last 3+ weeks of college basketball! Social media buzzing throughout the tournaments. While I can bring up five or more moments from the last weekend’s play, I’d like to stick with four this time.

Four storylines that stood out to me were:

All eyes on superstar Caitlin Clark, the (lesser-talked about) undefeated season of South Carolina women’s basketball, UConn going back-to-back and the unlikely rise of NC State’s DJ Burns.

The Caitlin Clark Effect

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark took over the women’s college basketball universe for March Madness. There was no ifs, ands or buts about the impact she made pretty much the entire season, but especially in March and April.

Many sports media outlets filled their social media timelines with as I would say “Clark Content.”

This graphic from Sportscenter to its 38 million followers is going to hit 1 million likes any day now (as it should!) 👀

The impact that Clark has made on the sport was evident from the first game to the championship game. There were 18.7 million average viewers watching the championship game between Iowa and South Carolina. I’m sure more than the men’s championship game between UConn and Purdue.

Even after winning the national title, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley gave praise to Clark on what she has done for the sport.

With all that being said, if you don’t applaud the impact Clark has made on basketball, you clearly don’t respect her or value what she brings to the table. She’s one of the main reasons for record-breaking TV numbers. Whether she plays in the WNBA or even the Big3 League (a $5 million offer) next year, she will be someone I and the nation will follow her entire career.

Did you know South Carolina women’s basketball went undefeated?

While the nation continued to fall in love with Caitlin Clark, a storyline that feels left behind is South Carolina basketball going undefeated en-route to their third national title in seven years. What an amazing feat!

This storyline was clearly overpowered by Clark’s amazing run in the tournament. While it’s hard to say which storyline should be prioritized by the nation, the undefeated season by the Gamecocks shouldn’t lose its impact on the sport too.

Dawn Staley is already a top 10 college women’s basketball coach of all-time and you can clearly see that by what she’s done with the program. Before Staley arrived on campus, the Gamecocks didn’t make it past the Sweet Sixteen since 1989-1990!

What happened since Staley took over the program? An 81% win rate, three national titles and only THREE losses in the last three seasons. Impressive!

Although, the Caitlin Clark effect overshadowed South Carolina from their third title, the accomplishment shouldn’t be taken lightly. I’m glad more eyeballs were on this dominant team and how they also impacted the game with their elite play. Props to Staley and the Gamecocks for the undefeated feat.

UConn men's basketball goes Back-to-Back National Champions

UConn’s mens basketball won their sixth national title on Monday night. The Huskies proved to be dominant not just all season long, but especially in the tournament. In six games, the Huskies won by an average of 23.3 points per game.

No team “had their number” or could even get within a 10-or-less-point loss. UConn head coach Dan Hurley has solidified him into a top three college basketball coach and the program is forever changed by his impact.

Here are some of my favorite posts celebrating the Huskies and their sixth national title:

A great graphic by CBB on Fox:

Overtime’s impressive graphic too:

Even the New England Patriots did a post (and yes they snuck in their logo at the top) 👀

Way to go Huskies! Will we see back-to-back-to-back?? Only time will tell…

The Unlikely Rise of NC State’s DJ Burns

I’m not sure how many brackets had NC State making the Final Four, but I’m sure it was less than 3%. The Wolfpack’s unlikely tournament run was amplified by the impact of big man DJ Burns.

I had no idea who Burns was before the tournament began (I don’t watch much ACC basketball), but quickly became impressed with his skill and performance on the court.

The 6’9”, 275-pound forward took over the nation. Don’t we all love a good big man story? While although he only average 16.2 PPG in the tournament, it was his game against in-state rivals Duke that elevated him into big man stardom. He recorded 29 points in the upset over the Blue Devils and the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals came flooding in after…

A student-run NIL agency signed six-figures worth of partnerships during the tournament with brands like Adidas, Raising Cane’s, CVS among others. Rightfully so. See the Front Office Sports graphic below to see all of the partnerships and read their story on the deals from his marketing team.

With all that being said, I don’t know if Burns will make it in the NBA or where he will be playing basketball next season, but what I do know is that he took advantage of the spotlight in the best way possible. Props to another college student athlete for capitalizing on NIL.

In conclusion, what an amazing March Madness it was! I heard some critics say they didn’t love the men’s side because UConn won their second title in a row, but so what! That’s sports. Not enough cinderella stories? It happens.

Let’s move on and celebrate the impact March Madness makes on the sports world. It captures the nation’s undivided attention for 3+ weeks and it gives a platform to elevate student athletes like Clark and Burns, while crowning teams like UConn and South Carolina on impressive seasons.

Social media will always play a major part on the impact of CBB and amplifying storylines that need to be told, especially during March Madness. Onto The Masters, NBA and NHL Playoffs as next on the plate.

See you in the fall/winter, CBB!