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Big 12 Commissioner Releases Statement on West Virginia NCAA Tournament Snub

Brett Yormark is 'surprised and disappointed' that the Mountaineers were snubbed on Selection Sunday.

Liam McKeone

West Virginia was a big snub of this year's NCAA tournament
West Virginia was a big snub of this year's NCAA tournament / William Purnell-Imagn Images
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This year's NCAA tournament field has been set, and there was arguably no greater snub from Selection Sunday than the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Despite a 19-13 record with big wins over Arizona and Gonzaga in neutral site games, WVU was left on the outside looking in— and the committee's reasoning was perhaps worse than the decision. Chair Bubba Cunningham referred to the absence of senior Tucker DeVries as a motivating factor to leave the Mountaineers out, even though DeVries has played all of eight games this year and hasn't seen the court in three months.

The snub was seen as so egregious even the conference commissioner felt he had to say something about it. On Monday Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark released a statement via ESPN's Pete Thamel decrying the decision and supporting WVU.

"I was surprised and disappointed to see West Virginia not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament," Yormark said, via 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."

Yormark adopts a similar tone to that of WVU AD Wren Baker, who said he was "heartbroken" and "can't comprehend" the decision in a statement released on Sunday evening. Even the governor got in on the action, with Patrick Morrisey declaring it "wrong on every level."

A tough break for the Mountaineers.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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