“Keep politics out of sports,” has become a common phrase — but what about the politicians themselves?
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey has decided to step in after the West Virginia Mountaineers were snubbed from the 2025 March Madness bracket on Sunday.
“Nearly every single sports fan, pundit and Bracketologist had WVU as a shoo-in for the tournament,” Morrisey said Monday. “This was a miscarriage of justice and robbery at the highest levels.”
Out of 111 different bracketologists’ picks via Bracket Matrix, all projected West Virginia to receive an at-large bid.
The Mountaineers wound up being the first team out of the March Madness field while North Carolina was the last team in.
Presenting himself with an NCAA acronym sign reading “National Corrupt Athletic Association,” Morrisey had particular distaste with the Tar Heels’ selection into the field.
He called for his attorney general, JB McCuskey, to investigate a potential conflict of interest with North Carolina’s athletic director Bubba Cunningham, as Cunningham is also the tournament selection committee chair.
The Post has you covered with a printable NCAA bracket featuring the full 68-team March Madness 2025 field.
“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 said. “I’ve asked [McCuskey] to launch an investigation into the NCAA Tournament selection committee to determine if any backroom deals, corruption, bribes or any nefarious activity occurred during the selection process.”
Sounding like a true college hoops fanatic, the governor also went on about how North Carolina’s résumé stacked up with West Virginia’s.
The Tar Heels went 22-13 on the season to the Mountaineers’ 19-13, but the stark differences in the their résumés came in the ever-so-important Quadrant 1 games.
The Post breaks down the four March Madness regions with sleeper picks and predictions.
“The Tar Heels went 1-12 in Quad 1 games and even had a Quad 3 loss,” Morrisey correctly mentioned during his speech. “We keep hearing about the importance of these Quad 1 wins, but UNC couldn’t even get more than one.”
North Carolina’s lone Quadrant 1 win came against a middle-of-the-road Big Ten team, 7-seed UCLA, all the way back in December by a score of 76-74.
West Virginia, however, was 6-10 in Quadrant 1 games and had wins over numerous teams in the NCAA Tournament field such as No. 3-seeded Iowa State, No. 4-seeded Arizona, No. 7-seeded Kansas and No. 8-seeded Gonzaga.
“The Attorney General and I are going to leave no stone unturned during this process,” Morrisey said.
North Carolina will face fellow No. 11 seed San Diego State in a First Four matchup Tuesday night, with the winner going on to face No. 6 Ole Miss in the first round on Friday.
