Irish Breakdown

Notre Dame Graduate Faces Backlash After Controversial NCAA Tournament Selection

NCAA Tournament committee chair Bubba Cunningham was a part of Notre Dame's golf team, and now he's the North Carolina athletic director. He was at the center of the big Selection Sunday controversy.

Nick Shepkowski

Dec 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham at Loudermilk Center for Excellence.
Dec 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
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Part of the excitement of college basketball's Selection Sunday is that there is always controversy to be built in.

No matter what happens, someone will always think one team was robbed while another was gifted tournament entry or a higher seed. Sometimes the thoughts end up being true, while others just seems like sore losers venting.

Fans of jilted teams will grab at anything, and this year there's a beef because ...

North Carolina Made NCAA Tournament

North Carolina is a college basketball blueblood program, so it making the NCAA Tournament is hardly newsworthy in most cases.

Except this time around.

North Carolina was the final at-large team to make the field of 68 this year, even though it had just one win in 13 tries against teams in the NCAA's top 65 in NET rankings.

Throw in that North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham, a Notre Dame graduate and former Fighting Irish golfer, was this year's chair of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, and his current school's inclusion became an eye-opener.

Cunningham was asked about that on the selection show by Seth Davis and had the following to say - check out the video.

Cunningham might not have been "in the room for any of that" like he says, but good luck telling West Virginia fans.

Was West Virginia Robbed of NCAA Tournament Berth?

West Virginia didn't hear its name called for the NCAA Tournament, and its athletic director quickly put out a post highlighting what he saw as a mistake by the selection committee.

Here's the problem with the complaints coming from West Virginia fans, Indiana die-hards, and others who were left out for a Tar Heel team without a ton of Quad 1 wins.

The NET rankings.

That's the go-to for the committee when it comes to overall views on the teams, but they don't determine seeding. Yes, this was a bad look for the committee, but North Carolina - even without the major wins - finished 36th in the NCAA's NET rankings. West Virginia? It was 51st, and Indiana was 54th.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.

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