West Virginia's governor is latest politician to look deeply unserious after NCAA postseason snub
West Virginia's governor is latest politician to look deeply unserious after NCAA postseason snub
West Virginia was the biggest snub when it came to the 2025 men's NCAA basketball tournament. Despite being a staple of 220 out of 225 mock brackets across the college basketball pundit universe, the Mountaineers were left out of the 68-team tournament in favor of bubble teams like Texas and North Carolina.
This angered state lawmakers to no end, which created an opportunity. With a few performative press conferences, politicians could drum up support by railing against one of the easiest targets on the American landscape: the NCAA.
That's exactly what governor Patrick Morrisey and state attorney general JB McCuskey did Monday, less than 24 hours after West Virginia's frustrating exclusion.
This is weird, certainly, but not unpreceded. Let's talk about what we know so far.
Does West Virginia have a case?
About being included in the tournament? Yes. The Mountaineers were a staple of mock brackets after a 19-13 season. They won six games against Quadrant 1 competition, went 10-10 in Big 12 play and had three wins over AP Top 10 teams. ESPN expert Joe Lunardi had West Virginia included among the "Last Four Byes" in his final Bracketology post, slotting the team in as a 10 seed.
From a legal standpoint? Probably not. Good teams have been snubbed from the bracket in the past without threatening lawsuits. The most likely argument will be that the chairman of the selection committee, Bubba Cunningham, also serves as athletic director at the University of North Carolina. Even those Cunningham told CBS he'd recused himself from discussing the Tar Heels' bid when creating the final bracket, the crux of a West Virginia suit would revolve around proving bias and showing this was more than run-of-the-mill bad luck and mismanagement from the NCAA.
That will be difficult to definitively show. But given the NCAA's recent history of legal losses, it could be worth a shot.
Is West Virginia actually suing the NCAA?
So far, no. Morrisey and McCuskey's press conference threw around the word "corrupt" like an old time telegram uses the word "stop," but the pair didn't say they'd filed suit against the governing body of college athletics. Instead, the duo announced an investigation to 'determine if any back room deals, corruption, bribes, or any nefarious activity occurred during the selection process.' That's all tough to prove, so the best case scenario here may be using public pressure to force the NCAA into a more transparent selection committee process.
Has anyone sued the NCAA over its selection practices before?
No, but Florida recently came close. Florida State was left out of 2023's four-team College Football Playoff despite a 13-0 record after starting quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a broken ankle at the end of the season. The university filed suit against its conference, the ACC, alleging mismanagement. Governor Ron DeSantis, pursuing the Republican nomination for U.S. President at the time, even proposed setting $1 million aside to cover the state's legal fees in case of a lawsuit against the NCAA. Nothing came of it.
Is this a problem for the NCAA?
Yes, but only in the way everything about the modern world is a problem for college sports' governing body. We've seen President Charlie Baker cave immediately to political pressure this year, following an executive order to exclude transgender athletes from competition. But that was on a federal level. West Virginia cannot force a similar amount of action, even with some specious lawsuits.
Furthermore, the NCAA's string of legal defeats have typically revolved around player eligibility and athlete compensation. West Virginia's complaint would have a tough time folding either into its overall case, even if Morrisey has taken on Baker's group before and won. Morrisey and McCuskey would have to prove demonstrable fraud here. Not even the NCAA is incompetent enough to take that risk.
Is this all a political stunt designed to bolster support behind West Virginia's elected officials?
I mean, we can't say for sure.
But yes.
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