West Virginia Attorney General Speaks Out Against NCAA Tournament Selection Process

A day after standing beside governor Patrick Morrisey as he berated the NCAA, the attorney general of West Virginia JB McCuskey released his own his own statement about the selection process.

“We are all enormously proud of WVU and the incredible job Coach (Darian) DeVries has done this year. By every objective metric, the players earned a spot in the tournament. I’m thankful for Gov. Morrisey for his passion for our players, university, and fans,” said McCuskey in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“The process by which we select teams remains antiquated and subjective – while the game, the tournament, the system and the revenue have evolved and become data driven. It’s time for the NCAA Tournament to create a selection process that matches the intensity of the moment, and embraces a new world of data and transparency. This is about more than WVU- and we look forward to helping create a process that players and fans across the country can understand, measure and rely upon.”

We are all enormously proud of @WVUhoops and the incredible job @Coach_DeVries has done this year. By every objective metric, the players earned a spot in the tournament.

I’m thankful for @MorriseyWV for his passion for our players, university, and fans.

The process by which…

— JB McCuskey (@mccuskeyforwv) March 17, 2025

While the WVU basketball program itself might be trying to just look ahead to the future, those running the state are looking for a fight with the NCAA. West Virginia vs. the NCAA incoming?

“Nearly every single sports fan, pundit and Bracketologist had WVU as a shoo-in for the tournament,” said Gov. Morrisey during Monday’s press conference. “This was a miscarriage of justice and robbery at the highest levels.”

Morrisey then covered the basketball reasons why WVU deserved a bid over North Carolina, the last program to make the field and who got in over West Virginia.

West Virginia Gov. Details Reasons for Launching Investigation Into NCAA Committee

“Now, who was the last team to get into the tournament ahead of the Mountaineers?” Gov. Morrisey asked hypothetically. “That would be the University of North Carolina. Now, let’s see how their resume stacks up. The Tar Heels went 1-12 in Quad one games and even had a Quad 3 loss. And we keep hearing about the importance of these Quad 1 wins, but UNC couldn’t even get more than one. They also had the 25th toughest schedule in America right behind WVU,” he continued.

“Now, here’s something you may not know: UNC had representation in the room during the selection process. Let me repeat that. UNC had representation in the room during the selection process. Bubba Cunningham is the athletic director for UNC. He also happens to be the head of the tournament selection committee.”

Morrisey asked McCuskey to launch a complete investigation into the NCAA Tournament selection committee. However, Morrisey said he’s not sure if he plans to bring legal action at this time and is mostly fighting for “objective criteria” for tournament inclusion.

For a related story, Pat McAfee rants about WVU basketball being left out of March Madness.