Why North Carolina became the NCAA Tournament's most controversial team
North Carolina was among the "last four" into the NCAA Tournament despite going 1-12 vs. the top competition on their schedule.
North Carolina probably won't become champions of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Yet shortly after the 68-team bracket was unveiled Sunday, it had already earned the title of the tournament's most talked-about team.
With six national championships, the Tar Heels are one of college basketball's most storied programs. But this was not one of their vintage seasons. At 22-13 they had produced one of the country's most polarizing résumés because of their 1-12 record against the most valuable opponents on their schedule — what the NCAA calls “Quadrant 1,” which values beating highly rated teams, particularly on the road.
North Carolina went 8-0 in “Quad 2” games and played a schedule ranked the nation’s 25th-toughest, per ESPN ratings. Because North Carolina did not win the ACC Tournament, it did not earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, and its fate rested on its worthiness in the estimation of the NCAA Tournament's selection committee.
That committee is chaired by Bubba Cunningham, North Carolina's athletic director. And when North Carolina was selected Sunday as the last team to make the bracket, it instantly created controversy as teams such as West Virginia, Ohio State, Boise State and Indiana — among the first four left out — questioned what separated the Tar Heels.
Did North Carolina earn an advantage because its athletic director chaired the committee?
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