Legally, Bubba Cunningham, the chairman of the NCAA selection committee, couldn’t vote for the North Carolina basketball team during the selection of the 68-team March Madness lineup.
In his role as the athletic director of the university, he was not allowed to choose North Carolina for either the men’s or women’s basketball tournaments. In fact, he wasn’t even allowed to be present during those specific deliberations, as confirmed by the vice chair, Keith Gill.
When the Tar Heels, with a 22-13 record and no significant wins in the 2024-25 season, surprisingly secured a spot in the tournament, there was widespread criticism from college basketball enthusiasts who pointed fingers at Cunningham for potential bias. Many observers felt that Indiana, West Virginia, and Boise State were more deserving teams, yet all three were controversially left out of the selection on Sunday.
‘Bubba Cunningham is one of the most blatantly corrupt men in modern sports history,’ one Indiana fan wrote on X after Selection Sunday.
‘HOW IS THIS ALLOWED?’ another fan asked online.
Cunningham was asked about the perceived conflict of interest during the Selection Sunday show on CBS.
Technically, NCAA selection committee chairman Bubba Cunningham wasn’t allowed to vote for North Carolina ‘s basketball team while picking the 68-team March Madness field
‘Obviously, I’m going to defer that to, to Keith,’ Cunningham said, referring to Gill. ‘But all the policies and procedures were followed and Keith can address exactly how North Carolina was discussed because I was not in the room for any of that.’
According to Gill, Cunningham was banned from having any contributions or even listening to discussions about North Carolina’s fate.
‘Our policies require the AD of any school to recuse themselves and actually leave those discussions and they’re actually not allowed to participate in any vote as well,’ Gill told CBS. ‘So we followed those, had lots of discussions about North Carolina.
‘You know, Saturday night, we took our final vote and voted in four teams in the field on Saturday night and we had a contingency vote,’ he continued. ‘And, the contingency vote? That was the last team in the field. It was based on Memphis and UAB. If Memphis won that game then that was going to free up a spot in the tournament and that was going to be North Carolina. If UAB had won then Memphis was going to be in the tournament, UAB would have been in the tournament, and North Carolina would have been the First Team Out.
‘And so that process played out today. Memphis won and that put North Carolina in the field.’
Critics point to UNC’s 1-12 record against so-called Quad 1 schools amid a historically bad season for the ACC.
‘I’m so sick of this crap,’ an angry UNC Charlotte fan wrote on X. ‘Why even play the tournament? They went 1-12 against Quad 1 and they’re stealing a bid from Boise State or UC Irvine, who I’d much rather watch play. Bubba Cunningham strikes again. This program cheats at everything.’
On a more ‘normal’ Selection Sunday, Texas making the field with 15 losses might have been the biggest talking point.
Seth Trimble #7 of the North Carolina Tar Heels and RJ Davis #4 react in the second half against the Duke Blue Devils during the semifinal round of the ACC basketball tournament
The tournament gets under way with the ‘First Four’ on Tuesday and Wednesday
Auburn is the top-overall seed and is headed to the South Region
As expected, Duke is the second No. 1 seed, and will head to the East Region
The Houston Cougars are the third No. 1 seed and are headed to the Midwest Region
Florida picked up the final top seed and will start in the West against Norfolk State
Instead, it was North Carolina’s inclusion that drew the most attention.
CBS analyst Seth Davis acknowledged it right away when he opened his interview with Cunningham by wondering ‘whether North Carolina may have gotten a little bit of an advantage with its AD as the chair.’
The Tar Heels were the last team in, based not on its 1-12 record against Quad 1 teams, but on its 8-0 mark against Quad 2, along with other favorable metrics, Gill said.
‘You take all those things in consideration, and the committee felt they should earn that last spot,’ Gill said.
In spite of Gill’s protestations, many fans described UNC’s bid online as ‘laughable.’
Both North Carolina (vs. San Diego State) and Texas (vs. Xavier) are playing in the First Four, which kicks off the action Tuesday. The tournament gets into full swing Thursday and Friday with 32 games at eight sites around the country.
