Big 12 Commissioner Says WVU Basketball Should’ve Made NCAA Tournament

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark believes WVU basketball deserved to be selected for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

“I was surprised and disappointed to see West Virginia not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament,” Yormark told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “In addition to their six Quad 1 wins, the Mountaineers won 10 conference games in one of the toughest leagues in the country.”

The Mountaineers certainly had the resume to make the tournament, with six Quad 1 wins, four ranked wins and three wins against top-10 opponents. West Virginia was passed over to teams like North Carolina, Xavier, San Diego State and Texas.

“West Virginia deserved a spot, and fans across the country agree,” Yormark continued. “Coach (Darian) DeVries and his team did an incredible job fighting adversity and winning big games all season. Regardless of this disappointing outcome, I’m incredibly proud how they represented the Big 12 all season.”

"West Virginia deserved a spot, and fans across the country agree. Coach Devries and his team did an incredible job fighting adversity and winning big games all season. Regardless of this disappointing outcome, I’m incredibly proud of how they represented the Big 12 all season.”

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 17, 2025

In total, seven Big 12 teams were selected for the tournament, led by conference champion Houston as a No. 1 seed.

Yormark’s comments support the statements made by WVU basketball coach Darian DeVries and WVU athletic director Wren Baker Sunday night.

The explanation provided by the selection committee for WVU’s exclusion included the absence of injured star Tucker DeVries, who only played eight games this season and hadn’t played since Dec. 6.

“They had an outstanding year and unfortunately, Tucker DeVries was hurt and player availability was something we talk about quite a bit,” committee chairperson Bubba Cunningham said.

Cunningham is the athletic director for North Carolina, which surprisingly did make the tournament as one of the teams that will play in the First Four in Dayton. The Tar Heels went just 1-12 in Quad-1 games and was thought to be on the wrong side of the bubble. All 111 bracketologists had WVU basketball making the tournament. Of the final four teams that got in instead of the Mountaineers, only 50 had Texas in, 30 had Xavier in and 27 had North Carolina in.

By rule, Cunningham was not allowed to be in the room during any discussion the committee had about North Carolina.

The WVU basketball season is officially over after the team declined to participate in either the NIT or the College Basketball Crown Tournament.

For a related story, media figures react to WVU basketball tournament snub.