After the last conference tournament ended on Sunday, millions of college basketball fans turned their attention to CBS for the reveal of the men’s basketball tournament bracket. Looking forward to which teams will earn one of 37 at-large bids, fans’ excitement turned to ire as the First Four 11-seed matchup revealed a controversial decision.
CBSSN Analyst Voices His Displeasure With the Selection Committee
No one seemed more adamant that the selection committee made a mistake than CBS Sports reporter Jon Rothstein, who believed the decision was criminal.
“If the criteria for the NCAA tournament… is to beat other NCAA tournament teams if you’re on the bubble, how in the world could North Carolina get an at-large bid over Indiana and West Virginia?” Rothstein said on a CBSSN panel following the selection show. “I’m just waiting for somebody to say, ‘We’ve got some swap water to sell you in Florida’.”
North Carolina being in the NCAA Tournament over teams like Indiana and West Virginia is a miscarriage of justice.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 17, 2025
In terms of metrics, West Virginia placed 51st in the NET rankings. The Mountaineers won six quad-1 games and didn’t lose a single quad-3 or quad-4 matchup all season. Similarly, Indiana was ranked 54th and had four quad-1 wins against zero quad-3 and 4 losses.
Meanwhile, North Carolina was ranked 36th in the NET despite having only one quad-1 win and a quad-4 loss on their resume.
Fans and writers alike were quick to point out that the chair of the NCAA selection committee was none other than UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham. Analyst Seth Davis made sure to ask about the selection, and how people might construe it as favoritism.
Cunningham deferred his answer to vice chair and Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill.
“I managed all the conversations about North Carolina, and we had quite a few,” Gill stated in an interview following the complete bracket reveal. “Our policies require the AD of any school to recuse themselves and actually leave the room for these discussions [on their teams].”
In response, ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla took to Twitter to claim that even when Cunningham wasn’t in the room, it was against the nature of the committee members as humans to disappoint their friends.
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Rothstein clearly did not like the choice of UNC over WVU and IU but stated that it shouldn’t stop UNC from performing well in the big dance.
“North Carolina not deserving to be in, has no bearing on how the Tar Heels could play in the bracket.”
UNC will play in the First Four against San Diego State on Mar. 18th at 9pm in Dayton, Ohio. The winner will move on to play Ole Miss on Mar. 21st.
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