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Dick Vitale Rips Selection Committee Over March Madness 2025 Decision

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | Last updated Mar 16, 2025 8:46 PM ET

The bracket has been set, and the NCAA Tournament is officially on. March Madness 2025 is just a few days away from getting underway with the play-in games, and as fans scramble to fill out their brackets and tinker with upsets, the buzz is in the air for the college basketball world.

Of course, with any tournament, there are going to be arguments and controversies over who got into the field, and more importantly, who didn't get in. This year, that conversation surrounds like likes of the North Carolina Tar Heels, who were the last team to get into March Madness.

They took the place of the West Virginia Volunteers, who many thought were more deserving of the tournament spot.

While there are many arguments for and against this decision from the tournament committee, legendary college basketball voice Dick Vitale had a strong message for the decision-makers.

The main point from Vitale was that North Carolina may be deserving, but their inclusion over West Virginia doesn't feel right.

"All we hear is talk about the importance of QUAD 1 wins - UNC in Quad 1 tough games was 1-12 .Don’t you have to win a couple," Vitale said on X. "(North Carolina) passes my eye test but I don’t want to hear the committee talk about how vital QUAD 1 wins are . Obviously not for all teams I feel (West Virginia) got a raw deal."

The Tar Heels (22-13) secured a spot in the tournament with one of the country's least impressive resumes. North Carolina was 1-12 against Quad 1 teams with their lone win coming against UCLA back in December.

Meanwhile, West Virginia was only 19-13 this year, but they were 6-10 in Quad 1 games.

The No. 11 seed Tar Heels will take on fellow No. 11 seed San Diego State on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio. The winner will go on to play the Ole Miss Rebels on Friday afternoon.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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