Bubba Cunningham Should Be Removed as Selection Committee Chair After WVU's Egregious Snub

Sitting athletic directors should not be involved in the tournament selection process.

Dec 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The NCAA Tournament selection committee proved on Sunday night that they have no idea what they're doing. Or maybe they do, and perhaps they're just not acting with integrity.

That's the biggest takeaway from Selection Sunday, considering the committee chair, Bubba Cunningham, is also the athletic director at North Carolina, the school that took the final spot in the NCAA Tournament over West Virginia.

Instead of coming onto the Selection Sunday show with actual reasons for West Virginia's exclusion, Cunningham tried his best to skirt around the question before eventually blaming it on the injury of Tucker DeVries, who has been out since December 6th.

How in the world is that an argument against a team? If anything, it should be the reason why the Mountaineers are deserving of a spot in the field. They played nearly 80% of their season without DeVries and still managed to win more Quad 1 games than North Carolina did with a healthy roster over the entirety of the season.

Mar 17, 2025; Dayton, OH, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis looks on during the First Four Practice at UD Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Carolina's best win? UCLA, who is a seven-seed in the NCAA Tournament. West Virginia took down Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas, and Iowa State, and not to mention the wins over Kansas and Iowa State occurred without DeVries in uniform. Winning at Phog Allen Fieldhouse alone is a bigger accomplishment than anything North Carolina did all season.

What's Carolina done to deserve a spot? Oh, they won eight of their last ten? Cool. Who did they play? Well, let's see, they beat Syracuse, NC State, Virginia, Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, and Wake Forest. Those teams combined have a record of 114-142. Six of those eight teams had a losing record. Their two losses in that stretch came to Duke, the second of which happened without Cooper Flagg.

In West Virginia's last ten games, they played one team with a losing record and lost, but also played four games against tournament teams. You'd like to think that West Virginia's four signature wins would be enough to make up for their losses to Colorado and Arizona State. How can the Tar Heels make up for their bad losses to Pitt and Stanford with just one key win, which, by the way, took place on a neutral court?

As I tweeted out on Sunday night if all we hear throughout the season is how Quad 1 wins are so important, then why is West Virginia out and North Carolina in? How is Xavier in? How is San Diego State in? Those three schools COMBINED have four Quad 1 wins, which matches the number of Q1 wins WVU has WITHOUT Tucker DeVries. Oh yeah, let's not forget that North Carolina also happens to have a Quad 3 loss. West Virginia has zero losses below Quad 2.

This isn't that hard, folks.

West Virginia University head coach Darian DeVries / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Teams have been snubbed from the tournament in the past, and there will always be someone who feels like they got the short end of the stick. But this is different and, quite frankly, egregious. I can't remember another team that was clearly misjudged, and the entire nation sees it.

What's maybe even worse than West Virginia getting screwed out of an opportunity is that the NCAA let this happen. But let's be honest, should we really expect much from the flawed organization? They can't get anything right.

How in the world is a sitting athletic director heading the selection committee? I don't want to hear the b.s. response of, "Oh well, Bubba wasn't in the room when North Carolina was discussed." But he was in the room when West Virginia was discussed, right? And how can you have a discussion about West Virginia without it influencing the conversation of North Carolina? News flash, you can't.

Those on the committee, not just the chair, need to be impartial. There should not be a single member who is also currently employed by a university. That's the best way to ensure there is no bias involved in the selection process.

If you don't think there was any sort of bias toward North Carolina, then let me put it to you this way - why did the committee only give the ACC two other at-large bids? Why did the team that went to the ACC Championship, Louisville, receive an eight-seed in the NCAA Tournament after going 18-2 in league play?

Well, folks, that would be because the league, for the most part, was hot trash. So if it's so bad that a team gets an eight seed for going 18-2, how can you justify putting in a team like North Carolina, who beat no one with a pulse? Bias.

Bubba Cunningham ripped the opportunity away from Javon Small, Toby Okani, Eduardo Andre, Haris Elezovic, and Jake Auer - all West Virginia seniors who have never participated in an NCAA Tournament. Those young men felt like they were waiting to see who they were going to play and where and instead, they left the show crushed, gutted, and stripped of something they deserved.

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI

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Committee Chair Doubles Down on DeVries Injury, Gets Grilled in Interview with Chris Russo

Wren Baker Addresses the Rumors Surrounding Darian DeVries' Future at West Virginia

West Virginia or Iowa? Fran Fraschilla Weighs In on Which is the Better Job for Darian DeVries