The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament selection committee shocked fans by putting North Carolina in the field. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
North Carolina? That’s madness!
March Madness is upon us and basketball fans are giddy for the best week of the year: the early rounds of the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournaments, during which there are games around the clock. But, as is always the case, not everyone is looking forward to the festivities, as some teams who hoped to be in the Big Dance were left out.
they got in based on name and not on their resume
This year’s men’s tourney bubble was especially controversial, as basketball blue blood North Carolina made it as the last team in, prompting many to cry foul, that they got in based on name and not on their resume.
The two schools and fanbases that are the most upset are West Virginia and Indiana, both of which had a strong case to be included in the field over North Carolina.
As the last team in, the 11-seed Tar Heels begin their quest to the Final Four in a “First Four” game against the 11-seed San Diego State Aztecs on Tuesday. According to FanDuel, North Carolina is a 4.5-point favorite at the time of writing. The winner of that game will slot into the South bracket and face 6-seed Ole Miss on Friday.
Strong opponents, but couldn’t beat them
North Carolina finished 22-13 overall, tied for 4th in a weak ACC with a 13-7 conference record. The problem as most see it is that in the past, the tournament selection committee has used Quad 1 victories – wins against the strongest teams – as a reason for including or excluding bubble teams. UNC was just 1-12 against Quad 1 teams.
it’s all well and good to play tough teams, but they didn’t beat any
The Heels had one of the strongest non-conference strengths of schedule in the country, which greatly helped its computer ratings, but the argument against them is that it’s all well and good to play tough teams, but they didn’t beat any.
Texas, one of the other last teams in the field, only had a 19-15 overall record, a garbage record in conference, and a terrible non-conference strength of schedule, but at least they had seven Quad 1 wins. As ESPN’s Joe Lunardi put it, though, the inconsistency in the committee’s evaluations is a difficult pill to swallow. Do you reward a tough schedule or do you reward tough wins?
“I’m not wild about rewarding either path, but I’m appalled at rewarding both,” Lunardi wrote.
When North Carolina’s name appeared in the bracket, fans and pundits looked at two things: 1) North Carolina is a big, attractive NCAA basketball brand, and 2) UNC’s athletic director is the chair of the tournament selection committee.
The latter is what has really stuck in people’s craw. He and the vice chair assured everyone on national television Sunday night that he was not allowed to be in the room when North Carolina was discussed, but that’s little comfort to West Virginia fans. Oh, and he reportedly gets a bonus of one-month’s salary because the team made the field.
West Virginia snubbed
The first four teams out, according to the committee, were West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio State, and Boise State. As mentioned, it is those first two that most people felt should have been in, for sure over North Carolina, and likely over Texas.
West Virginia had as many combined Quad 1 and Quad 2 wins as North Carolina, but while the Tar Heels barely beat anyone good, the Mountaineers beat Gonzaga and Arizona on a neutral court and downed Kansas and Iowa State in conference play.
Indiana had less of a complaint, but even then, it still beat Michigan and Purdue on the road.
Also of note was that the committee didn’t seem to punish North Carolina for not picking up any big wins in a weak ACC, but at the same time gave Louisville, which was 27-7 overall and 18-2 in the ACC, a lowly 8 seed.
FanDuel has North Carolina at +32,000 to win it all (it changed from +24,000 as I typed this paragraph), ahead of several at-large teams, including Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Xavier, and Oklahoma. While they might not have deserved to get in, now that they are, they have a chance to cut down the nets.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
