Analyst Jeff Goodman makes his feelings known on $45M worth Stephen A. Smith's "death of college basketball" take

Jeff Goodman, a college basketball analyst who co-hosts "The Field of 68" podcast, disagreed with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith's perspective on the state of college basketball.

During an episode of ESPN's "First Take" on Monday, Smith, who has an estimated net worth of $45 million per CelebrityNetWorth, shared his concerns about March Madness potentially losing its appeal due to the increasing dominance of major programs. He suggested that the lack of Cinderella stories could harm the tournament's allure.

"If this continues, it will be the death of college basketball," Smith said. "This has no effect on the allure of college basketball during the season. But March Madness, the madness of March, owns sports for that four-to-five-week period beginning somewhere in March through the early part of April. Owns sports."

Smith argued that the implementation of name, image and likeness deals and the transfer portal has created an environment where smaller programs struggle to compete with the resources and opportunities available at larger, more established universities.

"If people continue to get to point to that, then college basketball as we knew it — which to me is all about March Madness — will cease to exist. Because there’s no madness," Smith said.

However, former ESPN and CBS Sports reporter Jeff Goodman responded on X (formerly Twitter), dismissing Smith's take.

"Love that this guy is gonna weigh in on a sport he probably hasn’t watched in a decade or so," Goodman tweeted on Tuesday.

The 2025 NCAA Tournament, which started last week, has been defined by the lack of upsets in the first two rounds, with all the lower-seeded teams being eliminated early. Only one team seeded outside the top six made it to the Sweet 16 out of all regions.

John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks, a No. 10-seeded team, defeated No. 7 seed Kansas in the first round and No. 2 seed St John's in the second round to advance to the regional semifinal.

Jeff Goodman reacts to brutal injury blow for USC’s JuJu Watkins

JuJu Watkins, a USC sophomore sensation, suffered an ACL tear in the 96-59 win against Mississippi State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday.

Watkins played five minutes in the game and already had three points, one board and two assists. However, she had to be carried off the court by USC staff after the injury.

Jeff Goodman reacted to the news on X, writing:

"Absolutely brutal news for JuJu Watkins and USC."

The Trojans will now be without their star for the remainder of March Madness. They play Kansas State on Friday.