North Carolina's state enters the field as a large team is a major bubble controversy for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Chaos was developed during Championship Week last year, when five bid thieves stole the bubble spot. New Mexico, Duquesne, UAB, Oregon and North Carolina unexpectedly won conference tournaments, won Autobid and threw a big wrench into the postseason plan for teams sitting in the bubble.
This year's bubble was much more calm. The stolen bids were not a factor this March, but gave bubble teams with weaker profiles the chance to create a more realistic field.
The inclusion of North Carolina has been controversial thanks to a 1-12 record against Quad One's opponent this season. However, despite playing for a very weak ACC, the top 10 non-conference strength in the schedule could have saved North Carolina's season.
Some elements include North Carolina athletic director Baba Cunningham, who chairs the 2025 NCAA Tournament Select Committee. Cunningham told CBS Sports after the unveiling of Brackett that he exempts himself from all conversations related to North Carolina's inclusion into the NCAA Tournament, but leaves the room when Tar Heel is discussed – wondering about bias during the selection process.
So who should feel snubled? Snublist includes West Virginia, Indiana. Mountain West Tournament finalists, Boise State and Ohio – The final four teams of the NCAA.
Find the perfect bracket in predictive posts for the Instant NCAA Tournament. With the completion of the 2025 NCAA Tournament Bracket, we'll introduce four teams who have had cases where they feel they've been snuggled.
4. Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State ultimately lost too much compared to other bubble teams. 41 plus net rankings and 39th solid Kenpom rankings (the best ranking of teams omitted from the tournament) were cancelled by poor stretches of closures up to the season.
The Buckeyes finished the year with back-to-back losses against another bubble team in Indiana, earning a bad exit for the first game in the Big Ten tournament against Iowa. These losses came with a home loss against Northwestern, and the Buckeyes didn't play their best ball on the stretch.
Ohio State was 6-11 against the Quad One team, but hurt themselves with a 3-4 mark against the Quad two teams. The Buckeyes put together a solid non-meeting schedule (No. 89 per Kenpom) and scored a neutral victory at Madison Square Garden in Kentucky. Ohio's other notable, non-conference victory over Texas didn't support as much as the Buckeyes had hoped.
The Big Ten were better than the ACC, and Ohio had five wins over North Carolina, while the Tar Heels are in the Buckeyes field.
3. Broncos, Boise
You have to feel the state of Boise. The Broncos lost to Colorado in the Mountain West title game on Saturday night, with Boise looking out as one of their final teams.
With 44 net rankings and 50th place rankings in Kenpom, Boise State's figures match other bubble teams. Armed with a 3-6 record against a quad one team, Boise State won NCAA Tournament teams such as New Mexico, Utah and San Diego during Mountain West play.
Losing three games to Colorado appears to have significantly reduced Boise's chances. Early defeat to Boston College Washington State At home, I also gave the Broncos a Quad 3 and a Quad Forlos.
Mountain West has once again proven as a deep league full of NCAA tournament-level teams at the top of the league. But Boise State has made it necessary to do more for these tournament caliber teams, avoiding bad non-conference losses.
2. Indiana Hoosiers
Mike Woodson's tenure in Indiana ends with missing 68 fields. Indiana won more quad one wins (compared to the four) than North Carolina, and didn't have a quad 3 loss like the tar heels who suffered against Stanford.
The Hoosiers appeared to be playing better basketball on stretches in a February Big Ten victory, which was more prominent than the seed on February 2nd Michigan and No. 4 seed Purdue. North Carolina's best victory in the season took on No. 7 seed UCLA.
Indiana hurt themselves with poor non-meeting, including losses in Battle 4 Atlantis against Louisville and Gonzaga. Ultimately, Indiana played in much stronger conferences this season, earning more quad one wins while avoiding the loss of disaster. If you beat Oregon in the opening game of the Big Ten Tournament, if Indiana makes a big dance, then there will be a strong case.
1. West Virginia climbers
The climber has the bones to choose on the committee thanks to his respectable 6-10 record in the Quad One game and the non-meeting intensity of schedules (No. 137 of Kenpom) that was not bottomed out below 150.
During a solid season, West Virginia won in Gonzaga, Arizona and Kansas. Iowa. However, West Virginia's final victory over the team on the NCAA Tournament field came against Cyclone in January. The climbers closed season 0-5 against future tournament teams.
Losing in the first match of the Big 12 tournament against Colorado's low opponents could have ultimately sealed West Virginia's fate. With 51 net rankings and 53 Kenpom rankings, the climbers didn't have enough strong metrics to end up closing their bids.
