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North Carolina is headed to the 2025 NCAA Tournament as a No. 11 seed and part of the First Four in Dayton after narrowly sneaking in following a disappointing season. Gaining admission to the Big Dance should alleviate some of the heartbreak the Tar Heels felt following a heartbreaking loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
The Tar Heels' path to the tournament was finalized Saturday night, even after the loss to Duke. Keith Gill, the vice chair of the NCAA Tournament selection committee, led all discussions about the Tar Heels whenever North Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham, the committee chair, was required to leave the room.
Gill told CBS that UNC began Selection Sunday as the last team in the field. But the Tar Heels needed Memphis to beat UAB in the AAC Tournament title game. The Blazers would have stolen the Tar Heels' bid had they defeated the Tar Heels. Memphis held on for an 84-72 win.
"Saturday night, we took our final vote and voted in four teams in the field and had a contingency vote — the last team in the field," Gill said. "If Memphis beat UAB, that'd free up a spot in the tournament.
"If UAB had won … North Carolina would have been the first team out. That process played out today."
The inclusion of an at-large team with a 1-12 Quad 1 record is a stunning move that will stoke the ire of those on the wrong side of the bubble. The Tar Heels beat only one at-large team over the course of the 2024-25 season, leaving their Big Dance bona fides in serious peril.
West Virginia, which was left on the wrong side of the bubble, is 6-10 in Quad 1 games. Also snubbed was Indiana, which is 4-13 in Quad 1. Cunningham, who was not allowed to be involved in any conversation about North Carolina's eligibility, said the injury to WVU standout Tucker DeVries hurt the Mountaineers' case, citing the player availability metric point. West Virginia fans are likely aware it notched four Quad 1 wins without DeVries, three more than North Carolina's one all season.
However, both West Virginia and Indiana rank significantly lower than UNC in the NET and KenPom. As of Sunday evening, UNC rated No. 33 at KenPom and No. 36 in the NET.
There is recent precedent for strong ACC brands getting the benefit of the doubt.
Virginia was ranked just 63rd at KenPom after the ACC Tournament last season and was No. 54 in the NET but still made the field as the last at-large team with a 2-7 Quad 1 record.
The absence of bid thieves during conference championship week also helped North Carolina reach the Big Dance. A year ago, there were several teams that made unexpected conference tournament runs to secure automatic NCAA Tournament bids, which put the squeeze on at-large candidates.
Had UAB defeated Memphis in the AAC Tournament final, it would have turned the AAC into a two-bid league. The same could have been true in the A10 had George Mason taken down VCU in the Atlantic 10 Tournament title game.
Either scenario would have squeezed the bubble a bit tighter for a team like North Carolina. Ultimately, despite its poor Quad 1 record, the Tar Heels had advanced analytics metrics in their corner.
Further complicating the optics surrounding North Carolina's inclusion is Cunningham serving as the chair of the selection committee.
Though committee members must recuse themselves from the discussion about schools they are affiliated with, Cunningham's presence in such a prominent role combined with North Carolina's inclusion will certainly attract some side-eye from fans of teams like the Hoosiers and Mountaineers that were left out.
"All the policies and procedures were followed," Cunningham said. "I was not in the room for any of that."
