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The NCAA college basketball men’s and women’s March Madness tournament brackets were released on Sunday night.
Every year, the field of 64 (+4 teams involved in play-in games) is scrutinized to determine which teams should have made the field and those which shouldn’t.
In the men’s March Madness bracket, the NCAA’s selection committee (headed by University of North Carolina Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham) has come under significant fire for one particular team which was added to the field.
America’s basketball fans say, “Heel No!”
The North Carolina Tar Heels were likely the final team to be awarded a spot in the men’s tournament field.
The #11 seeded Tar Heels went 22-13 this season and a respectable 13-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Carolina went 0-3 against their long-time conference foe and #1 East seed Duke Blue Devils.
Overall, the Tar Heels went a paltry 1-8 this year against teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
Worse, North Carolina was 1-12 in games against so-called “Quad 1” teams.
“Quad 1” points are earned if your team defeats:
A top 30-ranked team – if the win comes on your home court
A top 50 team – if the win comes at a neutral court (such as early season tournaments)
A top 75 team – if your team wins that game on the road
In other words, the University of North Carolina beat its share of lousy teams but fared below par against teams with a winning record this season.
Prior to North Carolina’s selection on Sunday, ESPN’s resident college basketball tournament expert Joe Lunardi had been saying for days that the Tar Heels had no business making the field.
His logic was based on the fact that a few other teams under consideration had more impressive results against top teams than Carolina did.
Indeed. It is difficult to do worse than going 1-12 against top competition!
West Virginia Governor claims “A miscarriage of justice!”
One team on the proverbial bubble hoping to be invited to “The Big Dance” was the Big 12’s West Virginia Mountaineers. They went 19-13 overall and 10-10 in the Big 12 Conference.
West Virginia also posted six wins over “Quad 1” teams (reminder- North Carolina had just one).
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey was outraged by the NCAA men’s basketball snub.
He insinuated that there had been some “backdoor” deals being made by this year’s Tournament Committee to put North Carolina into the field.
“There was a little bit of home cooking going on in North Carolina,” said the West Virginia governor.
For the record, the Mountaineers didn’t do themselves any favors by losing in the first round of the Big 12 basketball tournament to #16 conference seed Colorado 67-60 last week.
Sentimental favorite Indiana was also left at home in favor of North Carolina
Indiana Hoosiers head basketball coach (and former player) Mike Woodson announced earlier this season that he was stepping down after the end of this year. The team finally responded and rolled off an impressive series of late season wins.
On Selection Sunday, Indiana’s resume featured a 19-13 season record, 10-10 in the Big Ten Conference and four “Quad 1” wins.
One of those wins was on the road against the March Madness #2 South Region’s seed, Michigan State.
Like West Virginia, the Indiana Hoosiers were left out of the March Madness tournament field.
During Sunday evening’s CBS Sports selection show, college basketball analyst Seth Davis was perplexed by how North Carolina was selected ahead of the Indiana Hoosiers.
“I had Indiana and West Virginia ahead of North Carolina,” said Davis. “I’m curious to hear the reasoning.”
Boise State says, “Hey, you guys think YOU got jobbed?”
The Boise State Broncos of the Mountain West Conference posted an impressive record of 24-10 and conference mark of 14-6. The Broncos had three “Quad 1” victories over NCAA tournament teams such as Clemson (84-71), St. Mary’s and New Mexico on their resume.
Speaking of Clemson, the Tigers demolished (yes) North Carolina by 20 points in an 85-65 rout a month ago in February.
The Boise State Broncos were so hot about Sunday’s NCAA snub that they also advised the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) that they didn’t would not accept their invite, either.
Instead, Boise State will face George Washington University (21-12) in the new College Basketball Crown tournament which will tip-off in two weeks in Las Vegas.
How did the NCAA Tournament Committee explain how North Carolina made the March Madness field over those other teams?
North Carolina’s long-time reputation as a premier basketball school might help to attract additional fans to a neutral site arena such as Tuesday’s opening round in Dayton against San Diego State.
The Tar Heels have six national championships. Carolina has been a TV mainstay and carries “star power” at the arena box office and with television ratings, too.
After the selections were announced on Sunday evening, NCAA Tournament Chairman Bubba Cunningham was asked by CBS Sports analyst Seth Davis about the public’s perception that his university had received a “golden pass” into the tournament simply because of his role on the committee.
Cunningham quickly deflected the question to Committee Vice-Chair Keith Gill.
Gill quickly claimed that the decision to add North Carolina (over the other teams under consideration) was not biased. Bubba Cunningham was required to leave the room whenever the committee was discussing his school for possible placement into the field.
“They are not allowed to participate in any vote involving their school, either,” said Gill.
Did you know that Bubba Cunningham will receive a significant bonus at UNC after his men’s team made the March Madness field?
One source revealed today that North Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham’s contract with the school pays him a one month (8.33%) bonus whenever the Tar Heels make the NCAA basketball tournament field.
With an annual salary of nearly $820,000, the bonus amounts to a cool $68,000 of incremental income heading to UNC’s athletics director.
49 of 50 US states will be rooting against North Carolina on Tuesday night
Coach Hubert Davis’ #11-seed North Carolina Tar Heels (the last team into the field according to several sources) will play #11-seed San Diego State (21-9) at 8:10PM CDT in Dayton, Ohio’s “First Four” event.
The game will be televised on Tru-TV (assuming your cable system or provider carries that channel).
The winner of Tuesday night’s game will advance to play in the East Regional at Milwaukee on Friday afternoon at 3PM against #6 seed Ole Miss (22-11).
A date with #3 seed Iowa State (24-9) most likely awaits Friday’s winner on Sunday afternoon.
If North Carolina should be able to win three straight games this week to advance into next week’s “Sweet 16”, many of us will owe the Tar Heels a big apology.
As former NFL quarterback-turned-broadcaster Dandy Don Meredith once said to booth partner Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football, “If ‘ifs and buts’ were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas!”
Merry Christmas, Carolina!