North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham will earn nearly $68,000 for the Tar Heels’ berth in the men’s NCAA Tournament. Cunningham is also the NCAA tournament committee chairman which caused major controversy on Sunday evening.
Teams like Indiana, Ohio State, West Virginia and Boise State were teams left out of the "Big Dance" but the Tar Heels were able to sneak in the tourney.
The Hoosiers were one of the first four teams left out of the tournament after going 19-13 on the season and 10-10 in the Big Ten. Indiana went 4-13 against Quad 1 teams. North Carolina went 22-13 overall, 13-7 in ACC play and 1-12 against Quad 1 teams just to show a comparison.
Agree with Seth Davis: West Virginia and Indiana should have been in over North Carolina and Xavier.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) March 16, 2025
"When we got to those last three or four teams, frequently Carolina was in the discussion," UNC Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham said. "As soon as we were part of the discussion, I left the room." Those conversations led to UNC as the last team in the field, with the committee admitting a late AAC upset would have knocked them off the bubble.
Bubba Cunningham made $104,000 thanks to a bonus of UNC making the Tournament.
North Carolina’s AD will receive one twelfth of his annual base salary, which is $814,868, according to his contract. That $67,905 bonus is for “overload duties, work and responsibilities related to” the NCAA Tournament, the contract says. Cunningham made the same when the North Carolina women’s team received a No. 3 seed those numbers are according to Sportico
Vice chair of the committee, Keith Gill, assured fans that Cunningham had no influence on the Tar Heels selection.
"As the vice chair, I managed all the conversations we had about North Carolina and we had quite a few," Gill stated. "Our policies require the AD of any school to leave the room for those discussions and they’re not allowed to participate in any vote as well.”
North Carolina is set to face another No. 11 seed in the San Diego State Aztecs in the First Four on Tuesday.
Indiana will not play in any post-season tournaments this season as they declined to play.