West Virginia Snubbed

It was a stunning Selection Sunday for the Big 12—West Virginia got screwed. 

It’s not just about the fact that they were left out; it’s about who got in ahead of them, the justification the committee chair gave to keep WVU out of the field, and the connection that same committee chair has to another team that got in. 

Somehow, the Mountaineers were left out of the NCAA tournament despite being in all 111 bracket projections tracked by Bracket Project. 

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had WVU safely in the field by five spots in the “Last Four Byes” category. 

If we’re going to talk resumes, West Virginia’s stacks up very favorably against North Carolina, who was the last team in the field. 

The Mountaineers had six quad one wins and zero quad three losses, while the Tar Heels went 1-12 in quad one and had a quad three loss to Stanford. 

The committee valued the Big 12 much more than the ACC. Louisville only landed an eight seed for going 16-2 in the ACC, so why does North Carolina get the bump on the bubble?

That’s where it starts to get fishy. 

The tournament selection committee chair is Bubba Cunningham–the athletic director at, you guessed it, North Carolina. 

An AD on the committee can’t be in the room when his team is discussed, but many have pointed out that there can be some subconscious bias for other committee members toward their buddy. 

The committee didn’t help itself when Vice Chair Keith Gill dodged a question from Seth Davis asking why UNC belonged in the field. 

Surely, the committee had a good explanation ready to go when asked about West Virginia being left out…right? 

Wrong. 

I’d guess at least a dozen remotes were thrown at TVs at that very moment in Morgantown. Justifiably so. 

Tucker DeVries only played in eight games this year. He hasn’t seen the floor for the Mountaineers since December 6th. It is ridiculous to hold that against a team. 

This isn’t Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis going down a week before the College Football Playoff selection show. West Virginia’s accomplishments without DeVries easily merit a spot in the field over UNC. 

DeVries played in key non-conference wins over Arizona and Gonzaga, but he wasn’t playing when West Virginia beat Iowa State and won in Allen Fieldhouse. The Mountaineers went 10-10 in the Big 12 without him, picking up three more quad one wins than North Carolina along the way. 

So, to recap:

• The selection committee chair’s school gets the last spot in the field over West Virginia

• The committee vice chair dodges a question about the merits of UNC being in the field

• The committee chair uses an injury that happened in December as justification to keep the Mountaineers out

I’m no conspiracy theorist, but I don’t blame West Virginia fans for being suspicious. 

I haven’t even mentioned yet that the SEC has two teams in the field that went 6-12 in conference play. Texas will take on Xavier in a play-in game, and Oklahoma somehow landed a nine seed. 

As if that wasn’t enough of a gut punch for WVU fans, now they’re on Darian DeVries watch as rumors swirl about his interest in the Iowa job. 

I mean this sincerely: I feel for you, Mountaineers. You were dealt an absolutely brutal hand here.

What You Need to Know

• The Big 12 landed seven teams in the NCAA tournament field. Big 12 regular season and tournament champion Houston leads the way as a one seed in the Midwest Region. You can see the full list of Big 12 seeds and matchups here and the full NCAA tournament bracket here. 

• Those seven teams are only half as many as the record 14 that the SEC got in this year. The SEC was clearly the best conference in college hoops, but they didn’t deserve that level of love. Here’s why. 

• I’ll have more thoughts on the Big 12’s draw and the key storylines of the Big 12 in the NCAA tournament in your inbox later this week. 

• The Big 12 is also sending five teams to the new College Basketball Crown tournament, which is a 16-team tournament in Las Vegas that takes place from March 31 to April 6. There will be an NIL prize for the winner. Oklahoma State will play in the NIT.

• West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey announced today that he’s launching an investigation into the NCAA selection committee to determine whether any “backdoor deals” were made in the selection process. He did so in front of signage that read “National Corrupt Atheltic Association.” This clip from his press conference is must-listen audio. 

• Coach Prime continues to be a TV network’s dream. The Colorado head coach wants to find a team to practice and scrimmage against this spring, with the “spring game” being televised on ESPN2 in April.

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