The Tar Heels are going dancing, but the college basketball world seemed more than shocked by the news — and wondering if perhaps some favoritism may have been involved. While North Carolina was predicted to be on the bubble – at best – to make the NCAA Tournament,

Here is why UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham became a March Madness controversy due to his role on the tournament selection committee.

The North Carolina Tar Heels were the biggest surprise of Selection Sunday, earning a No. 11 seed and a spot in the First Four in Dayton when their name was called for the 2025 NCAA Tournament. As soon as UNC was named into the tournament,

North Carolina -- which slotted in as the No. 46 overall seed -- had a higher NET Ranking (36) than West Virginia (51) or Indiana (54), but that didn’t stop a lot of fans from crying foul on social media in regards to Cunningham’s claim that he wasn’t in the room when the decision was made.

The Tar Heels lost to No. 1 Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals, but have won eight of their past 10 games and are playing their best basketball of the season.

Many are even pointing to Bubba Cunningham being the sole reason why UNC was in because of him being the Athletic Director. On Monday, the outrage continued and Jon Rothstein had some strong words for the committee and the situation while appearing on Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" podcast: "This is one of the biggest miscarriages of justices that I have seen in all of my years covering college basketball,