Undoubtedly, the biggest storyline of Selection Sunday was the field’s omission of West Virginia—and the subsequent inclusion of North Carolina.
Expert panels across the industry were shocked to see the Mountaineers left on the outside looking in while the Tarheels, especially when comparing their resumes head to head. West Virginia was 6-10 against Quad 1 opponents, while North Carolina was just 1-12 in the same metric.
The Mountaineers finished the year at 19-13 overall and 10-10 overall and were comfortably in the tournament field, as they appeared in all 111 brackets in the last brack matrix.
Having North Carolina in over West Virginia is laughable, and the only reasonable explanation for the decision would have to be that the selection committee is chaired by none other than Bubba Cunningham—the Tarheels’ athletic director.
On Monday, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark took the time to release a statement on the situation, sharing his disappointment in the committee’s decision to leave the Mountaineers out.
“I was surprised and disappointed to see West Virginia not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament,” Yormark said via ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “In addition to their six Quad 1 wins, the Mountaineers won 10 conference games in one of the toughest leagues in the country. West Virginia deserved a spot, and fans across the country agree.
“Coach Devries and his team did an incredible job fighting adversity and winning big games all season. Regardless of this disappointing outcome, I’m incredibly proud of how they represented the Big 12 all season.”
This decision makes zero logical sense from a basketball perspective, and WVU fans have every right to feel slighted and outraged by missing the field. It makes little sense to have both North Carolina and Texas in this field, but have West Virginia on the outside looking in.
