West Virginia governor initiates the examination of the NCAA tournament selection process

West Virginia being left out of the NCAA Tournament in favor of a team like North Carolina caused a major uproar following the selection show on Sunday evening. But, Governor Patrick Morrisey has decided to let his actions speak louder than words of outrage over the Mountaineers snub. 

On Monday, the West Virginia governor announced that they are looking for answers from the ‘National Corrupt Athletic Association’, also known as the NCAA, for leaving the Mountaineers out of the tournament. 

This is the latest political stunt following a college athletics team being snubbed from a postseason tournament or playoff. If you remember, when Florida State was left out of the college football playoff last season, lawmakers in the State of Florida tried to go after the NCAA for damages, which led to absolutely nowhere. 

Investigation Into NCAA Tournament Selection Committee Launched

Fast-forward to Monday, with Governor Patrick Morrisey and Attorney General JB McCuskey launching an investigation into the NCAA Tournament selection committee, and if there were any backdoor deals made to get North Carolina into the postseason, which left the Mountaineers out. 

In one of the most entertaining press conferences we’ve seen in recent memory regarding a college athletics team, the West Virginia governor made it clear that he thinks there were some sneaky deals being done behind the scenes. 

“This smells a great deal. I would ask the NCAA to work collaboratively with them for answers,” Gov. Patrick Morrisey said about the investigation. 

“Nearly every single sports fan, pundit, bracketologist, had WVU as a shoe-in for the tournament. In fact, leading up to selection Sunday, 111 out of 111 bracketologist projected WVU to make the tournament, and for good reason. 

Governor Morrisey would go on to speak about how many Quad-1 wins the Mountaineers had, compared to others, even pointing out that the team went undefeated again quad-3 and 4 opponents, which is an interesting tactic.

“This was a miscarriage of justice and robbery at the highest level,” Morrisey stated. “And who was the last team to get into the tournament ahead of the Mountaineers? That would be the University of North Carolina. The Tar Heels went 1-12 in Quad-1 games, and even had a quad-3 loss. And we keep hearing about the importance of quad-1 wins, but UNC couldn’t even get more than one. 

West Virginia Gov. Implies UNC’s Bubba Cunningham Cut Backdoor Deal

Then the governor turned his attention to the Tar Heels, and went after North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham, who serves as the chair of the NCAA Tournament selection committee. 

“Here’s something you may not know. UNC had representation in the room during the selection process. Let me repeat that, UNC had representation in the room during the selection process,” Morrisey exclaimed. “Bubba Cunningham is the athletic director for UNC. He also happens to be the head of the tournament selection committee. 

“That’s being reported by a number of outlets that Cunningham had a significant bonus incentive, at least $70,000 to get into the tournament, arguably more if they advanced, with more incentives on the way. I want folks to let that sink in for just a minute… This stinks at the highest level.” 

Clearly, the governor has been reading a lot about the contract of Bubba Cunningham, but it’s important to note that most athletic directors have incentives like this in their contracts. But clearly, the governor wanted to tie this in with North Carolina, which is a nice scare tactic for the outraged citizens. 

What do Governor Patrick Morrisey and Attorney General JB McCuskey want out of this investigation? 

“We want to make sure a travesty like this doesn’t happen again. But second, it’s important when issues like this come up that the NCAA has that full transparency when it comes to all the money, financial incentives, that’s available for the whole country to see. Because there is big money at stake. Also, I want to make sure I stand up for West Virginia, Marshall, and all the schools competing against the blue-bloods.”