Cinderella doesn’t need a fairy godmother to get to the ball anymore.

The fact that teams in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament from a wide background — major conferences, mid-majors and small — can find success is a good sign for the sport.

After all, the fans are wide and varied, too. The more likely that the podunk schools can find success at the Big Dance, the more fans are engaged in the tournament. Butler, Virginia Commonwealth and other proved they belong.

But in NCAA football, which is more or less governed by the powerhouse programs, conferences and the bowl committees, that is sadly not the case. There is a proverbial gate that the major conferences control called the Bowl Championship Series.

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament showed just how much college football could benefit from a playoff.