Fans are likely left wondering 'why' when it comes to the fact that West Virginia men's basketball is sitting at home this March instead of competing in the NCAA Tournament.
The Mountaineers had the resume to make the tournament over a number of teams that made the field over them. In particular, North Carolina was pinpointed as a team that most bracketology predictions had left out of the field. So what exactly led to this occurring?
The selection committee discussed the injury of Tucker DeVries in December as a justification, and consideration could also be given to UNC's substantially higher NET Ranking. But there is something else to consider.
The head of the Selection Committee for the NCAA Tournament was Bubba Cunningham, who also serves as the Athletic Director at North Carolina. That fact itself is enough to present a bad image for the NCAA in this exact situation, whether anything shady went on behind closed doors with the committee or not.
But WVU assistant coach Chester Frazier highlighted some further details about Cunningham and his contract with UNC that give some further insight into why Cunningham may have felt pressure to see UNC in the Field of 68 beyond simply being the face of the school's athletic department. Now, tweets with a screenshot of Frazier's initial post are going viral.
Chester Frazier seems to know why WVU got snubbed pic.twitter.com/ZcZhnZkxpN
— Hot Rod (@HoldTheRopeRR) March 17, 2025
If any information comes out that Cunningham did put extra pressure on the committee to slide UNC in over WVU during the selection process, or even if Cunningham influenced that particular discussion at all, it could go past a 'bad look' into territory that could be grounds for legal action -- which the state of West Virginia is already discussing.