The NCAA makes men’s basketball committee selection process following UNC controversy

The NCAA made a rather notable change to its men's basketball committee selection process, one that they should just name, "The Bubba Cunningham Rule."

We all know the drama that surrounded the UNC basketball program's inclusion in the field of teams for last season's NCAA Tournament, a decision highlighted by the fact that Cunningham was serving as the committee chair. Many people still believe North Carolina shouldn't have been included in the field, as those same people believe the Tar Heels' Director of Athletics played a significant role in making it happen.

Due to this speculation, the NCAA put a rule in place to prevent this type of controversy from happening again.

Under the new rule, the chair must be recused if their school is under review for final at-large selections. If their school is among the last four at-large teams, the chair cannot publicly comment on its inclusion.

Basically, the NCAA is saying, "well, we aren't saying there were any wrongdoings, BUT, we will take precaution to make sure it doesn't happen again!"

The truth of what went down in the committee selection meetings will never surface, which will always lead to even more speculation on the topic. Following the backlash from it, especially from the University of West Virginia, it was almost a guarantee that the NCAA was going to address this type of thing from happening in the future, ensuring that the committee is placing the best 68 teams in the field.

While we don't believe that Cunningham did any wrongdoing, you can understand why many across the country feel that way, especially given how the UNC basketball program performed for most of the 2024-2025 regular season. It was a bad year for the program to be mediocre, putting Cunningham in a difficult position as the committee chair.

When you refer to this rule, you can unofficially call it "The Bubba Cunningham Rule."