By John Fredericks, Staff Writer
Most governors of a state whose major university got snubbed by the NCAA men’s basketball selection committee would be satisfied with a mild X or Instagram post, lauding the team’s successful season and saying their college deserved a bid. Read West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrissey Unloads on NCAA below.
But this is West Virginia, and we don’t operate that way. Our fan base takes their WVU athletics seriously. After all, with no professional sports teams, the Mountaineers is all we have. Passion rules the day.
Apparently, newly elected West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrissey (R-WV) shares that view.
After learning of the men’s basketball team’s NCAA tournament snub on Sunday night, Morrissey blasted the decision and branded the college athletics ruling body as “corrupt” in a hastily called press conference on Monday.
But that was only the appetizer.
READ: EIGHT-RUN FIRST INNING SPURS WVU BASEBALL
Morrissey doubled down on my live radio show on Tuesday, stating that he has directed his Attorney General J.B. McCuskey to launch a full investigation into the NCAA and their selection process.
Morrissey claimed that West Virginia is viewed with disdain by the elites who run the NCAA, who view the state as backward blue collar hicks. He said the university doesn’t fit the blue bloods who the selection committee obviously favors. North Carolina, chosen over WVU, he said fits that classification.
Here are a few excerpts of the governor’s analysis from our interview:
Gov. Morrissey: “Injustice at the highest levels”
“WVU had six Quad-1 wins. And that was combined with an undefeated record against Quad-3 and Quad-4 opponents. We had three wins against top 10 teams and the 24th toughest schedule in America. West Virginia deserved to be in the NCAA tournament. This was a miscarriage of justice and robbery at the highest levels.’
To Quad or Not to Quad
“Now, who was the last team to get into the tournament ahead of the Mountaineers? That would be the University of North Carolina. Now let’s see how their resume stacks up. The Tar Heels went one for 12 in Quad-1 games and even had a Quad-3 loss. And we keep hearing about the importance of these Quad-1 wins, but UNC only had one Quad 1 win to our six…they even lost to a Quad-3 team. We did not.”
Smoke Filled Back Room
“Look, I think what really bothers a lot of West Virginians and a lot of Americans is that people feel that whatever that they’re saying publicly, these guys go into a back room and then they make their decisions. And what West Virginians know is that based on a lot of the criteria that they’ve talked about, they should’ve made the tournament. But look, this isn’t about whether this is going to get reversed by tomorrow night or for this tournament. This is about how do you fix a terrible system that’s not being as objective and transparent as you need it to be. The fact that you had an athletic director from a university who was in the room most of the time…and at the very end, can you imagine there are just a couple teams left, you leave and then your team is the last one in, and WVU is the first one out?”
Blue Bloods Vs. Blue Collars
“It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but it leads you to the belief that there’s this effort to push the blue bloods, as opposed to the really strong, the grinders, WVU Mountaineers. And I’m not going to stand for that. I think what’s going to happen out of this is that a lot of people will be asking tough questions of the NCAA selection committee, and they’re going to have to move toward a more objective criteria, whether that’s KenPom, whether that’s net rankings, whether that’s finding ways to have humans in the room who are following more objective behavior, as opposed to what we’re seeing now. So, that’s the goal behind it. And I know that West Virginia doesn’t take getting screwed very well.”
The Investigation
“I asked the attorney general to conduct an investigation to get to the bottom of it.And so, it’s premature to go to the litigation at this stage. But John, as you know, I don’t just say these things idly. Several years ago, we had a similar circumstance, albeit it dealt with the transfer eligibility rules. And we wrote a couple letters to the NCAA. They promptly put them in the trash bin. And ultimately, we sued. And we were the ones, along with some other states, that helped change all the transfer eligibility rules. So, I think the public does care about this. And I think if the NCAA wants to enhance the quality of their product and take away these kind of devastating decisions, what they should do is work with us, work with others to fix the system so bad things don’t happen again in the future…That’s what West Virginia does, it pushes for fair rules. And if we have fair rules, we do very well by those rules. West Virginia’s coming back, and we’re always going to be strong, and we’re never going to take getting pushed around by anyone.”
Show Me The Money
“I think that’s what the investigation’s all about. Can you imagine even if you’re leaving the room at the end, if you have up to a $70,000 or more incentive bonus? I mean, think about that kind of effect. And these are folks that are in the room for a long time. Look, I’m not here to tell you this is exactly what happened here and there. That’s what the investigation’s all about. But I think a little bit of sunlight, a little bit of disinfectant cleans up these processes. And so, I think that people think that they can push West Virginia around. No one is going to push our state around and the Mountaineers. And we’re going to come back stronger than ever because of this snub.It’s going to allow us to fuel our comeback, because I think that we’re not the blue bloods. You’ve got a lot of blue collar, hard hat workers. They’re going to work every single day. They’re taking their lunch buckets and they’re getting good things done for the state. That’s only going to increase. There’s some things we’re doing to help provide more job opportunities, educational opportunities for our state. But I will tell you one thing that West Virginia takes seriously, they take the Mountaineers seriously. So, when your team gets screwed, you all stand up and say, ‘No, this is wrong’…we won’t just stand around and take it.”
