North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis yells instructions to the team during the first half of an … [+] NCAA college basketball game against Duke, Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

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There are precedents for teams with 13 losses from a power conference getting into the NCAA tournament.

Last year’s field saw Mississippi State at 21-13, Michigan State at 19-14, Texas A&M at 20-14, North Carolina State at 22-14 reach the tournment over 12-loss Seton Hall and 13-loss St. John’s in coach Rick Pitino’s first season.

This year’s field features 19-14 Baylor from the Big 12, 13-loss Oklahoma and Arkansas as part of the SEC’s 14-team haul along with 15-loss Texas from the same conference.

While Oklahoma and Arkansas may be getting some flak and criticism for being selected to the 68-team field, perhaps no team is being scrutinized more than North Carolina, which will face San Diego State Tuesday night in the First Four with the winner advancing into the main draw against sixth-seeded Ole Miss.

The Tar Heels finished at 22-13 and heated up down the stretch by winning nine of their final 13 games and piling up at least 80 points in six of wins. Their three losses since Feb. 1 when they were 13-10 were two losses to top-seed duke and a 20-point loss at Clemson, which earned a sixth seed.

In recent years the NET rating has replaced the RPI as a major tool to gauge teams on the bubble. North Carolina enters with a NET rating of 36, slightly higher than Texas and Arkansas.

Another factor the committee is perceived to follow are Quad 1 victories and it is the area where North Carolina’s deficiencies showed up in a major way. A Quad 1 victory is defined when a team beats a top-30 opponent at home, a top-50 opponent on a neutral site or a top-75 opponent on the road.

North Carolina went 1-12 in those games with its lone win a 76-74 victory over UCLA at Madison Square Garden when it erased a 16-point deficit.

West Viriginia and Indiana, which each went 19-13 were better than the Tar Heels in those areas.

West Virginia was left out with a NET rating of 51 and a 6-10 mark in Quad One games. Indiana was left out with a NET rating of 54 and a 4-13 mark in Quad One contests.

Another key point of discussion is the potential for conflict of interest on the committee, which has nine Division I athletic directors and three conference administrators. This year the head of the committee is North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham.

Among the steps outlined on the NCAA’s website is this passage: At no point in the process shall a member vote for a team the individual represents as an athletics director or commissioner.

After the brackets were revealed Sunday on CBS, Cunningham deferred any comment to Keith Gill, the vice-chair of the committee. Before Gill’s explanation, Cunningham said he was not in the room when North Carolina was discussed and ultimately selected.

Later on ESPN’s Selection analysis show, Gil cited North Carolina going 8-0 in Quad 2 games, along with a strong strength of schedule that included a three-point loss at Kansas, defeats to Auburn and Michigan State in the Maul Classic. North Carolina also lost to Alabama and Florida, which were in the top-10 of the AP poll during those December matchups.

Colorado’s RJ Smith, right, drives past West Virginia’s Toby Okani during the second half of an NCAA … [+] college basketball game in the second round of the Big 12 Conference tournament, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

In terms of West Virginia, the Mountaineers’ primary issue for being left out appeared to be the absence of injured star Tucker DeVries, who was limited to eight games because of an injury. In the eight games, the Mountaineers earned neutral site overtime victories over Gonzaga and Arizona, which earned an eighth and fourth seed respectively.

Without DeVries, West Virginia posted a 13-11 record but still was in the field for 111 of 111 brackets for the website bracketmatrix, which compiles a list of all brackets ahead of the Selection Show. Among the reasons over a hundred bracketologists put West Virginia in were road wins over Kansas and Iowa State.

Indiana head coach Mike Woodson gestures toward an official during the second half of an NCAA … [+] college basketball game against Purdue, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)

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Indiana’s case might have been more questionable, especially after Gill cited North Carolina’s Quad 2 record. The Hoosiers were 5-0 in those games and 15-0 in Quad 2, 3 and 4 games while North Carolina was 21-1 and West Virginia finished 13-3.

Indiana while viewed as underachieving in the final two seasons under retiring coach Mike Woodson, earned a 15-point win over Purdue on Feb. 23 and a 71-67 victory over Michigan State on Feb. 11, becoming the only Big Ten team with wins over both schools.

A day later, the debate still rages on and will be cited for however long North Carolina’s latest tournament appearance. It is a tradition that will be ongoing for as long as the tournament consists of 68 teams and probably will even continue if and when the field expands.