A state representative is not happy with the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee leaving their team.
West Virginia statesman Patrick Morrisey stood at a lecturer during a press conference Monday with a sign that read the “National Corrupt Athletic Association” after West Virginia Mountaineers did not enter the March Madness bracket.
Mountaineers were one of the teams on the bubble, and while some thought they had a strong case to be among the 68 elected teams, the committee eventually thought.
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Patrick Morrisey (Luke Sharett/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)
“West Virginia deserved to be in the NCAA tournament,” Morrisey said. “This is an abortion of justice and robbery at the highest level.”
Morrisey also announced that he has asked West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey to open a survey of the NCAA selection committee to see if “back door agreements were made”.
Mountaineers were a fringe-tournament team after walking 19-13 together while ending 10-10 in the Big 12 Conference Play.
Many people thought West Virginia would enter the tournament when the BIG 12 tournament began when they had the team to make a possible race by the title. However, a surprising loss for Colorado, which owned the last place at the conference during the regular season, changed all this.
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Whether it was the decisive factor in mountaineers left by the bracket was not revealed by the selection committee, but the word “snub” was quickly thrown around when it happened.
The fittings results led to head coach Darian Devries as well as athletic director Wren Baker to release statements about the case. Devries said he was “shocked” that his team didn’t have a chance to compete for the national title.
“Obviously, we are extremely shocked, sad and disappointed not to be chosen for the NCAA tournament,” the statement says. “We are convinced that we have a resume worth a NCAA tournament team. I am incredibly proud of this team and what they achieved. They poured their hearts this season and put all their collective efforts to do the NCAA tournament and I think they did.”
West Virginia Mountaineers coach Darian Devries is watching during the first half against the Colorado Buffaloes at the T-Mobile Center. (William Purnell-Misted Pictures)
Baker added, “I can’t understand that this team was left out. Our resume was better than several teams in the field, and it’s a terrible travesty that we weren’t included.”
One of the most important statistical structures for a team is Quadrant 1 wins that the selection committee determines as a game against a team ranked in the top 30 of the network (NCAA’s evaluation tool) at home, against a team ranked 1-50 on a neutral court and 1-75 in away competitions.
West Virginia had six wins in Quad 1 matches, while North Carolina, a team, many had trouble doing the tournament went 1-12 in these games. Mountaineers also had victories over four ranked teams this season, including on time # 2 Iowa State, No. 3 Gonzaga (on a neutral court) and No. 7 Kansas.
Their three wins over the AP Top 10 teams are mostly in the BIG 12 this season.
So Morrisey called the dismissal of mountaineers “ridiculous” and “scandalous” during an interview with Newsmax.
Patrick Morrisey (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He also suggested that while serving as the state lawyer, a successful trial against NCAA could have led to the snub in the past.
“Is this retaliation?” He said, referring to the trial he had with the governing body where he challenged transfer rules successfully in 2024. “We will have to get to the bottom of it.”
UNC’s athletic director, Bubba Cunningham, is also chairman of the selection committee. He said Sunday after the bracket had been announced that he was not in the room for the decision to let Heels take in as the last team in the field.
Instead, he postponed to Vice President Keith Gill, who gave an explanation of how Tar Heels came in.
Patrick Morrisey (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“Our policies require the advertisement from every school to regain itself and actually leave the room for these discussions. And they are not allowed to participate in any vote. … We voted in four teams in the field on Saturday night and we had an emergency voting.
“The emergency voting, it was the last team in the field. And it was based on Memphis-Uab. If Memphis won that game, it would free up a place in the tournament and it would be North Carolina.”
