MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — When the North Carolina Tar Heels were selected to play in the NCAA Tournament and the West Virginia Mountaineers were left out of March Madness, it was widely considered a major injustice. Despite all expert analytics pointing out the Mountaineers making the tournament and the Tar Heels missing it, North Carolina was the final team in the field, while West Virginia was the first team out.
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey even got involved. “UNC had representation in the room during the selection process,” Morrisey said during a press conference after Selection Sunday. “Bubba Cunningham is the athletic director for UNC. He also happens to be the head of the tournament selection committee. It’s being reported by a number of outlets that Cunningham had a significant bonus incentive, at least $70,000, to get into the tournament, arguably more if they advanced with more incentives on the way. I want folks to let that sink in for just a minute.”
West Virginians were obviously upset and unfortuntely, many fans of the Mountaineers took their anger to a whole different level, according to North Carolina news channel WRAL. In an article posted yesterday, WRAL reported that UNC Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham received “hundreds of emails” and threatening messages following West Virginia’s snub from the tournament.
“Hundreds of angry West Virginia University fans fired off angry, profane and even threatening emails to the University of North Carolina’s athletics director in the days following Selection Sunday, when the Mountaineers were left out of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in favor of the Tar Heels,” WRAL wrote. “North Carolina Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham was also the chairman of the selection committee — and the selection of a flawed UNC team over bubble teams such as West Virginia and Indiana unlocked a fury, calling Cunningham a “scumbag,” a “hypocrite,” “trash” and much worse.”
Here are some examples of the messages Cunningham received from West Virginia fans back in March, according to WRAL:
“I genuinely [expletive] hope your entire family gets cancer and your grandkids become drug addicts and you have to watch them wither away to nothing.”
“You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself for your actions tonight. The fact that an AD is the HEAD of a committee should be illegal. You are a fraud and you rigged the system so your garbage school could get in. Disgusting.”
“You stole from kids who devoted their lives and earned the right to a last chance. They’ll literally carry that weight and dream about not having that opportunity for the rest of their lives and you get to continue to sleep well at 62. Shame on you. Shame on you Bubba. You’re better than this.”
“How does it feel to be the most corrupt person in sports? And possibly the most hated man in America. I give it 30 days befor [sic] you have to resign and never be heard from again. See ya [expletive].”
After receiving hundreds of threatening messages, Cunningham seemed to take it in stride, saying, ” Doesn’t look like I’ll be vacationing anytime soon in West Virginia.”
