Did West Virginia make March Madness? Mountaineers miss out on 2025 men's NCAA Tournament

USA Today

17-03-2025

Did West Virginia make March Madness? Mountaineers miss out on 2025 men's NCAA Tournament
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Arizona's Caleb Love recalls the best moments from his previous March Madness appearances
Arizona's Caleb Love talks about expectations for his team in the Big 12, and his hopes for March Madness. He also talks about his partnership with Ritz.
West Virginia basketball made noise in the first half of the season by picking up three Quad 1 wins during one month.
However, the Mountaineers' work done early in the season wasn't enough to secure a spot in the men's NCAA Tournament.
Already entering the day on the bubble, West Virginia learned it missed out on March Madness in Year 1 of the Darian DeVries era in Morgantown as the "first team out" of the 68-team bracket during the Selection Sunday bracket show.
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The Mountaineers went 10-10 in the Big 12 this season and experienced an early exit in the conference tournament last week at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Here's what you need to know on whether West Virginia made the NCAA Tournament or not, and more:
Did West Virginia make March Madness?
No, West Virginia did not make the 2025 March Madness Tournament.
The Mountaineers, instead, learned that they were the first team out of making the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday during the bracket reveal show.
West Virginia entered Selection Sunday vying for one of the final spots in the field of 68, as one of the handful of teams that found itself on the bubble. The Mountaineers' first-round loss to Colorado, the last-place team in the Big 12, likely kept them out of the dance.
West Virginia being left out of the field was a shocking decision by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, considering the Mountaineers appeared on 111 of 111 brackets on Bracket Project — marking the first unanimous selection to ever miss out on the NCAA Tournament, per Bronco Nation News's Nathan Carroll.
The one team that got in over West Virginia was UNC, a controversial decision by the selection committee. Putting West Virginia and UNC's resumes side-by-side, the Mountaineers have a slightly stronger resume — highlighted by their 6-10 Quad 1 record, an important statistical piece used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee on top of NET rankings. UNC went 1-12 against Quad 1 teams this season, with that lone Quad 1 win coming in non-conference against UCLA.
To expound, West Virginia's resume consists of a win on the road at Kansas, neutral site wins over Gonzaga (No. 8 in NET rankings) and Arizona (No. 12 in NET) and a win over Iowa State (No. 9 in NET). Comparatively, UNC's resume has a Quad 3 loss at home against Stanford.
As noted by USA TODAY's Jordan Mendoza, West Virginia had more Quad 1 wins than 13 at-large teams that were selected to the field of 68.
"We have a lot of metrics and we added a couple of this year," NCAA Tournament selection chair Bubba Cunningham said on CBS's Selection Sunday show. "... The last four teams that were out, it was a tough call. The next team out was West Virginia and they had an outstanding year. Unfortunately, Tucker DeVries was hurt and player availability is something that we talked about quite a bit."
He added: "That's the hardest part of being on the committee is having to draw that line. But with only one real upset this year, there were an awful lot of teams on the bubble that got in."
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