Date of Award

Spring 5-21-2022

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

EdD Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Department

Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Advisor

Robert Kelchen, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Omayra Arocho, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Brian Conners, Ph.D.

Keywords

NCAA, Cinderella Story, Division I men’s basketball, March Madness, college athletics, higher education

Abstract

This study looked to determine if being classified as a Cinderella Story team in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, also known as March Madness, led to a statistically significant change in NCAA Division I men’s basketball spending for that team’s respective institution one, two, and three years after being labeled. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of men’s basketball spending on teams that are Cinderella Stories in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. It aims to understand how spending differs between athletic programs whose characteristics mirror those of Cinderella Stories and how expenses change before and after being labeled a Cinderella Story. The sample for this dissertation is composed of teams who were seeded between 9th and 15th and were not ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. The treatment for this dissertation is composed of the following teams: those that were not ranked in the preseason Associate Press Top 25, those that won 2 games or advanced to the Sweet 16 and were seeded between 9th and 15th. The comparison for this dissertation is composed of the following teams: those that were not ranked in the preseason Associated Press Top 25, those that won 1 or 0 games in The Tournament, and those that were seeded between 9th and 15th. This study determined that there was no statistical significance on whether a team was a Cinderella Story and men’s basketball spending for that team’s institution.

Additional Files
Fresco Dissertation NO SIG.pdf (582 kB)
Download

Share

COinS