NCAA men’s basketball selection committee vice chairman Keith Gill explained why North Carolina basketball received an at-large bid to The Big Dance. Head coach Hubert Davis has had a very trying fourth year in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels entered the season with a lot of hype due to the return of reigning ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis. Unfortunately, this team has struggled on both ends throughout the year, culminating in a 22-13 record.
The Tar Heels came into Selection Sunday with a flawed resume, highlighted by a 1-12 record against Quad 1 teams. Therefore, the team’s inclusion, along with the fact that the chairman of the committee, Bubba Cunningham, is the current athletic director for North Carolina, drew the expected conspiracy theories. Cunningham, of course, was not in the room when the Tar Heels’ fate was decided. With Gill leading this process, he explained why North Carolina basketball made the field to CBS Sports.
“The committee spent a lot of time talking about North Carolina. And when you’re getting down to the end, there are pros and cons on every team’s sheet. Certainly, when you’re looking at that Quad 1 record, that’s something we have looked at quite a bit. But when you think about their strength of record, when you look at their WAB (wins above bubble), when you think about their NET, it shows that they had success against the remainder of that schedule, and they were also 8-0 against Quad 2. So, when you put these together, at the end of the day, the committee thought they should be the last team in.”
The Tar Heels still have one more opportunity to salvage this season
Other teams in contention for the last spot in the field were Boise State, Indiana, and West Virginia. Those three programs were on the bubble for most of the season and were not considered safe picks for the NCAA Tournament heading into Selection Sunday. The Broncos might be what fans consider to be the biggest snub, based on their body of work and the fact that they beat ACC powerhouse Clemson earlier this season. The Tigers subsequently blew out the Tar Heels in mid-February.
However, there is a reason why pundits like Dick Vitale are coming to North Carolina basketball’s defense. This group still had a case to make the field, which is by no means an egregious selection. But now, the Tar Heels need to seize this opportunity.
This Tar Heels’ roster still has a lot of experience with talented guards who could carry this group to some wins in the next week. That potential redemption journey starts on Tuesday against a San Diego State program that knows a thing or two about success in the NCAA Tournament. Hubert Davis has had a Cinderella run before as head coach of North Carolina basketball. Perhaps the Tar Heels can rekindle some of that past magic.
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