Grade the take: North Carolina's performance in the tourney doesn't mean it deserved a spot

There has been plenty of debate on the internet over North Carolina's controversial inclusion in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels were the last team in the field over several notable snubs, including West Virginia, which dwarfed North Carolina's resume in areas like Quadrant 1 wins while the selection committee placed more credence on the Tar Heel's predictive metrics.

The committee appeared to gain some measure of vindication when the Tar Heels blew out San Diego State on Tuesday night to earn a spot in the main draw against Ole Miss on Friday. The debate didn't stop around North Carolina's inclusion, however, as CBS Sports' Gary Parrish echoed an opinion that has circulated on the internet of late in regards to whether a big win like that validates the Tar Heels' inclusion in the field.

Is this take on North Carolina's inclusion in March Madness a good one?

As controversial as opinions like Parrish's are, it is not a bad take by any means. The selection committee has made questionable calls on at-large bids on the past and been rewarded (see First Four teams like UCLA and VCU going all the way to the Final Four or George Mason getting one of the last at-larges in 2006 before their Final Four run). The tournament itself is entirely separate from the discussion about whose resume is worthy of inclusion in the tournament, which is based on the entire body of work a team does in the regular season.

Seeing a team like the Mountaineers, who went out and beat quality competition throughout the season, get left at the door for a North Carolina team with one win over an at-large team (against UCLA at Madison Square Garden in December) is a mistake. While the Tar Heels are the poster child for the committee's bad choice, the fact of the matter is that it is far worse that the committee took three teams (North Carolina, Texas and Xavier) with inferior resumes to West Virginia's over the Mountaineers.

Picking the last team for the bubble in a sea of teams with flaws is akin to choosing your favorite flavor of ice cream, which is why no one should have had a complete meltdown if West Virginia was in and North Carolina bumped out a team like Texas or Xavier out of the field.

When every expert whose bracket is included in the bracket matrix includes a team and the committee leaves it out, this is where the opinions like Parrish's are validated.