March Madness
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey scheduled a news conference for Monday afternoon to announce potential legal action against the NCAA and the selection committee for excluding West Virginia from the NCAA Tournament.
“Today I am joining @WestVirginiaAG to announce actions against the National Corrupt Athletic Association,” he wrote on X.
Debate raged Monday morning after North Carolina was awarded a spot in the field of 68 instead of the Mountaineers.
West Virginia finished the season with a 19-13 record (10-10 Big 12); the Tar Heels were 22-13 (13-7 Atlantic Coast Conference). However, when using the metric of Quad 1 wins, North Carolina was 1-12 and West Virginia 6-10.
West Virginia declined to participate in the NIT.
“I want to reiterate what I said on Sunday that I am incredibly proud of this team and what they accomplished this season,” coach Darian DeVries said in a statement issued Monday. “One of our team goals was making the NCAA Tournament and we had a resume worthy of an NCAA Tournament selection. Our guys poured their hearts into this season and all their collective efforts into making the NCAA tournament. I would like to thank all of Mountaineer Nation for their unwavering support of our team this season.”
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark told ESPN he thought the selection committee made the wrong decision.
“I was surprised and disappointed to see West Virginia not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament,” Yormark said. “In addition to their six Quad 1 wins, the Mountaineers won 10 conference games in one of the toughest leagues in the country.”
The selection committee is led by Bubba Cunningham, the athletic director at North Carolina, though he was not in the room when the Tar Heels were discussed Sunday, per reports.
UNC received a No. 11 seed and will play fellow No. 11 San Diego State in a First Four game on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio.
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