"It's Embarrassing For an Elected Official to Take The Position He's Taking", Stephen A. Smith is Not Happy with West Virginia's Governor Wasting Time on Trivial Things Like Basketball

Stop it, Stephen A. Smith. You stop it right now. This is politics. If you don't think West Virginia Governor, Patrick Morrisey taking time out of his day to address his constituents about quad 1 wins from behind a podium that reads 'National Corrupt Athletic Association', and ordering his attorney general to launch an investigation into whether or not his state's basketball team was cheated out of a spot in the playoffs, then immediately calling into Barstool Sports' premier YouTube show The Yak to further plead his case....

If you don't think that's serious political business, Stephen A. Smith, then I have to question whether or not you're qualified to run for office in 2028. 

On the surface this whole thing does seem like a ridiculous political stunt, considering it's all over basketball tournament. But jokes aside, to be fair to Governor Morrisey, there is actual money on the line here. The colleges and universities whose basketball teams make the NCAA Tournament are awarded money depending on how far they make it in the tournament. And both North Carolina and West Virginia are both public universities. 

Yahoo! - The NCAA, which brings in about $900 million in annual media rights fees from CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery, allocates payment units to all 32 conferences with teams in the field, with additional units for at-large bids, and any schools advancing to subsequent rounds up until the Final Four, according to Front Office Sports. Presumably, that amounts to $264 million up for grabs — about $128 million based on 64 available units this month and the $136 million already set for the 68 tournament teams.

So if what everybody is accusing UNC's athletic director Bubba Cunningham of is true, and the AD of a public school is abusing his power to get his team into the NCAA tournament, which brings money into the state of North Carolina. Money that many people believe should rightfully be going to West Virginia. Then it actually kind of is a legitimate political issue. It's probably a negligible amount of money in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure whatever money UNC makes from the tournament this year will be split amongst ACC schools. But there's money on the line nonetheless. Technically, it's about more than simply wanting to have a winning basketball team. 

Honestly if anybody should be pro-politicians making moves like this, it should be Stephen A. Smith. If he really does want to be U.S. President, Stephen A. Smith someday, he should want sports and politics intertwined as much as possible. As ridiculous as it may be, there's probably a sizable amount of votes to be gained from making the NCAA Tournament selection process more fair. People hate the NCAA. It's like the one thing everybody agrees on. A politician could probably do some damage running on a "Fuck The NCAA" platform. 

I still can't get over how wild of a move this was by Bubba Cunningham. I said on The Rundown yesterday that if I were Bubba, I wouldn't even accept the chair of the NCAA selection committee job. Everybody called me a liar, and said if I had an opportunity to get my school into the tournament that I would absolutely take it. 

I was kinda saying that tongue in cheek, but the more I think about it… if you're Bubba Cunningham right now, do you really feel like putting North Carolina in the tournament was worth it? By pushing UNC through, he made himself THE face of corruption in college sports. For what? An extra $100k bonus on top of a $1M/year salary? So that maybe North Carolina gets crazy hot and makes an Elite 8 run? He now has the West Virginia attorney general coming for his ass in a real way that could have real life consequences for him. None of that seems worth it. If I were in Bubba's position as the chair of the selection committee, I almost think I'd be a detriment to my school. I think I'd be more likely to leave my school out of the tourney, because I'd be too scared of this exact thing happening. Even if I did have this one graphic that I keep seeing tweeted over and over again on my side.

I can't imagine anything actually comes of this investigation. Unless someone can produce a video of Bubba Cunningham passing a briefcase to the Sun Belt commissioner on his way out the door. Or a video of Bubba Cunningham standing outside the selection committee room like Logan Roy during the North Carolina conversation. 

But I appreciate the West Virginia governor going to war for his people. I'm sure West Virginia doesn't have any more pressing issues for him to take care of anyways. They seem like a state that's got everything under control.