Bubba Cunningham, the current athletic director of North Carolina, was a member of the golf team at Notre Dame and currently chairs the NCAA Tournament committee. The major Selection Sunday issue revolved around him.
The fact that there is always controversy to be expected adds to the thrill of college basketball’s Selection Sunday.
Regardless of the circumstances, someone will always believe that one team was defrauded while another was given a higher seed or tournament admission. While some of the beliefs turn out to be correct, others merely look like the venting of bitter losers.
There is a conflict this year because jilted team fans will grab at everything.
Being a collegiate basketball powerhouse, North Carolina’s appearance in the NCAA Tournament is typically hardly noteworthy.
Unless, of course, this time.
Despite having only one victory in 13 attempts against teams in the NCAA’s top 65 in NET rankings, North Carolina was the last at-large team to qualify for the field of 68 this year.
The inclusion of his present school became shocking when you consider that Bubba Cunningham, the athletic director of North Carolina and a former Fighting Irish golfer and Notre Dame alumnus, served as this year’s chair of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.
When Seth Davis questioned Cunningham about it during the selection show, Cunningham responded as follows.
Good luck informing West Virginia fans that Cunningham was not “in the room for any of that” as he claims.
Was West Virginia denied a spot in the NCAA Tournament?
When West Virginia’s name wasn’t called for the NCAA Tournament, the athletic director promptly posted about what he believed to be an error on the part of the selection committee.
The issue with the complaints from Indiana acolytes, West Virginia supporters, and others who felt excluded for a Tar Heel team that didn’t have many Quad 1 victories is this.
the rankings of NET.
Although they don’t decide seeding, that is the committee’s first choice when it comes to general opinions about the teams. Even without the big victories, North Carolina placed 36th in the NCAA’s NET rankings, so yes, this was a horrible look for the committee. West Virginia? Indiana was 54th and it was 51st.
