North Carolina making the NCAA Tournament has been a huge controversy this year, so much so that an opposing state is launching an investigation into the matter. Many are wondering whether some corruption was involved considering the status of Tar Heels athletic director Bubba Cunningham.
Cunningham receives a $104,166.66 bonus for North Carolina making the NCAA Tournament. That’s nothing to sneeze at. He also is eligible to receive up to another $225,000 in bonuses depending on how the Tar Heels perform in the tournament.
Cunningham isn’t the only person who might receive bonuses based on how well his school performs in the NCAA Tournament, but there is something about Cunningham that differs from everyone else. Cunningham is the Selection Committee Chair, which calls into question whether he has any influence on the selection of the field. Fans certainly think he might.
It’s bad enough to have the athletic director of a school vying for a spot in the tournament doubling as the selection committee chairperson. But it’s worse when said person also has a financial incentive to have his team in the field. That should not be allowed due to the massive, obvious conflict of interest.
North Carolina, which went 22-13 but only had one quad 1 win, made the field as one of the “last four” in. The first four out included West Virginia (19-13), Indiana (19-13), Ohio State (17-15), and Boise State (24-10). WVU, which feels like they deserved the spot, had six quad 1 wins.
