Bubba Cunningham refuses to call Duke's name as one of the No. 1 seeds in bracket projection

Bubba Cunningham, the Director of Athletics for the University of North Carolina, is this year's NCAA Selection Committee Chair.

What an awful year to fill the role!

On Saturday, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee revealed its Top 16 seeds ahead of the upcoming March Madness tournament. No, the UNC basketball program was nowhere to be found (and rightly so), but their rivals from down the road were among the teams mentioned.

Cunningham wanted no part of announcing them as one of the current projected No. 1 seeds for this year's tournament.

Cunningham refused to name the Duke Blue Devils, saying he "can't do it." As the man who runs the North Carolina Athletics Department, it's bad enough that his team is likely not even among the field of teams that are currently projected to make the field, but to see his rival from down the road thriving and being considered one of the favorites to win the whole daggum thing takes it to a whole other level.

Of course, some will say "well, can he be biased enough to not hold a grudge against Duke?" The answer is simple:

The man was just having fun.

Don't read too much into this- Cunningham is well aware of the current landscape of the college basketball world. While it will pain him to do it, given his North Carolina ties, he won't punish the Duke Blue Devils, especially if they earn a No. 1 seed in this year's event.

With all that said, while he won't hold a grudge in the selection committee process, it doesn't mean that he, along with the rest of Tar Heel nation, won't be rooting for every team the Blue Devils take on during the NCAA Tournament!