West Virginia missed the 2025 NCAA Tournament by one spot. During the CBS broadcast, the Mountaineers were revealed as the first team left out of the 68-team field.

The Mountaineers were projected to make the tournament by every single reliable bracketologist and college basketball insider, yet somehow, they were left out.

Why is that so?

According to the Selection Committee Chair Bubba Cunningham, a significant injury may have played a big part.

“The last four teams that were out, it was a tough call. The first team out was West Virginia. They had an outstanding year and unfortunately, knowing Tucker DeVries was hurt…player availability is something that we talk about quite a bit.”

Cunningham is also the director of athletics at the University of North Carolina, who was the last team to make the tournament. The Tar Heels went 1-12 in Quad 1 games and even had a Quad 3 loss, for heaven’s sake. West Virginia went 6-10 in Quad 1 games and did not have a single loss below a Quad 2. Pretty interesting, right?

But back to the “player availability” thing…that may have been the worst answer I’ve ever heard a committee chair give when asked about why a certain team was left out. You mean to tell me, that a guy who played in eight games, hasn’t been on the floor since November is why West Virginia is out? Come on, man. WVU won at Kansas and beat Iowa State without Tucker DeVries. They’ve been without him essentially the entire season.

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