Jon Rothstein: 'Miscarriage of justice' led North Carolina into NCAA Tournament field

On Sunday, college basketball fans were stunned when the Selection Sunday crew revealed North Carolina will play in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament with a chance to advance to the Round of 64. During an appearance on Pardon My Take, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein tore into the NCAA Tournament selection committee for its decision.

“This is one of the biggest miscarriage of justices that I have seen in all my years covering college basketball,” Rothstein said. “When you think right now about what the criteria is to get teams into the NCAA tournament, at the end of the day, what is always going to usurp everything is, who did you play, where did you play them and did you win?

“North Carolina was 1-12 against Quad 1 opponents. That is just a fact of life. And then when you look at some of the teams that were left out of the bracket, the two that I’m looking at specifically is West Virginia and Indiana. And remember with North Carolina’s résumé, Carolina also had a Quad 3 defeat on its résumé, which Indiana, who was left out of the tournament in favor of North Carolina, did not have.”

Most bracketology experts were confident North Carolina would not earn a ticket to the Big Dance, especially after the Tar Heels fell in the ACC Tournament semifinals to Duke, which did not have Cooper Flagg or Maliq Brown available. Nonetheless, UNC squeaked its way into the 68-team field.

North Carolina failed to show it was able to defeat top teams during the regular season, posting a 1-12 record against Quad 1 opponents. Alas, it’s worth noting the Tar Heels went 8-0 against Quad 2 foes. Rothstein believes UNC’s numerous wins over subpar opponents aren’t nearly as impressive as the few wins other bubble teams had over elite competition.

“Indiana won a road game at Michigan State in East Lansing, who is a 2-seed right now in the South Region,” Rothstein said. “… Indiana also beat Purdue at home. I don’t understand how Carolina can get in over Indiana if Indiana won a game at Michigan State and beat Purdue and doesn’t have a Quad 3 or 4 loss, and Carolina does.

“What about West Virginia? The miscarriage of justice continues. West Virginia went to Allen Fieldhouse and beat Kansas. West Virginia beat Iowa State at home, a 3-seed. And West Virginia, on a neutral court, beat Arizona State and beat Gonzaga.”