Watching West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey and his attorney general John McCuskey prattle on at a Monday news conference, demanding accountability and threatening legal remedies over — wait for it — the NCAA basketball tournament selection process, you might have wondered if this was all a setup for Kenan Thompson to run out on stage and yell “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Niiiiiiiiight!”

A mere 18 hours after the Mountaineers were controversially snubbed from March Madness in favor of North Carolina, there was really only one thing that could kill the national sympathy being directed toward Morgantown. 

And wouldn’t you know it, the politicians didn’t disappoint. 

Do you know what sports fans hate more than an NCAA tournament injustice? A gasbag governor and his obsequious sidekick grandstanding to their political base, sticking their nose into a place it doesn’t belong and making a mockery of the real problems in a state that has plenty of them. 

Seriously, gentlemen: Do you not have better things to do?

“This was a miscarriage of justice and robbery at the highest levels,” Morrisey said. “This thing reeks of corruption.” 

Is that similar to the smell emanated by a former Washington, D.C. lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry who ran for office in West Virginia on a platform of fighting the opioid epidemic? Just wondering. 

There used to be a time in America when ambitious politicians, and particularly Republicans like Morrisey and McCuskey, would have railed against the idea of running to the courtroom to litigate any perceived minor injustice. 

Ah, well, nevertheless. 

Instead, we had Morrisey not only refusing to rule out the possibility of seeking an injunction if the NCAA doesn’t cooperate immediately with McCuskey’s investigation but also suggesting the West Virginia snub might have been retribution for the state suing the NCAA in 2023 over basketball player RaeQuan Battle’s eligibility. 

“A lot of people said, ‘What are you doing?’” Morrisey said. “We sent multiple letters they didn’t respond adequately to and we fundamentally helped change the transfer eligibility rules. So I think the answer is when you’re talking about multi-billion dollar businesses and universities that have a big stake in the outcome, absolutely (it’s worthwhile).”

Of course, one big difference: In the Battle lawsuit, West Virginia was challenging whether the NCAA’s transfer rules violated antitrust laws on behalf of a citizen fighting for his rights. But this? This is just a whole lot of whining on behalf of a basketball team that lost 13 of its 32 games including to Colorado in the Big 12 tournament. 

And it’s not even really clear what they hope to gain, other than a mention of “objective criteria” for the NCAA tournament selection process. Which, if you have followed the selection process for any length of time, is like trying to explain why “Anora” won Best Picture over “Conclave.” There is no objective criteria. That’s the point. 

And West Virginia, like every other Div. 1 school, not only knew that going in but agreed to it. 

Now, does that mean the committee got it right? No. 

West Virginia’s exclusion was stunning, given that every “bracketologist” who does this either as a job or a hobby had the Mountaineers in the field. And as we addressed Sunday night, the fact that North Carolina athletics director Bubba Cunningham chairs the selection committee isn’t a great look when the final decision was literally UNC over West Virginia. 

In cases like this, the recusal procedures to ensure Cunningham wasn’t part of the discussion or votes involving UNC don’t protect the NCAA from accusations of favoritism. That gave Morrisey the opening to pounce, and if it wasn’t him, it could just as easily have been the governor of Texas if the Longhorns got left out instead of the Mountaineers. 

“UNC had representation in the room,” Morrisey said. “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. I want folks to let that sink in for just a minute.’

Even if Cunningham did everything by the book, the selection process has long been plagued by suspicions that committee members will do their best to take care of buddies who work at other schools. And even if Cunningham never even hinted at lobbying for the Tar Heels, these committee members are colleagues and often friends who spend a lot of time with each other inside and outside the committee room during this process. 

So something like what happened Sunday only turbocharges conspiracy theories, and it’s worth looking at whether athletics directors and conference commissioners should be the ones making these tough calls when there’s so much on the line financially.

But that’s a matter for the leaders of college sports to reckon with — not elected officials who love to use this stuff to make it seem like they’re fighting for the common man or woman when we all know it’s political theater. 

McCuskey, the attorney general, even sounded more like a message board poster than a chief law enforcement officer in repeatedly referring to the Mountaineers as “we” and making the case that a basketball team with guard Javon Small would have a chance to beat anyone in the country. 

In the end, it was deeply embarrassing for the people of West Virginia. Just like it was when some Florida politicians did the same thing after Florida State got left out of the 2023 College Football Playoff. And just like the group of legislators in Georgia, Alabama and Illinois that have recently tried to pass bills giving college athletes an exemption from state income tax on their NIL deals.

In fact, it’s probably not a stretch to say that no group of people has consistently done more to turn public opinion back toward the NCAA on a variety of issues than state-level legislators doing ridiculous things on behalf of college sports because they think it will win them more votes in the next election.

Similar to most of those efforts, Monday’s news conference was almost as funny as a variety show. Only it happened in real life, in the state of West Virginia, instead of on the SNL set where it belonged. 

Tracy Morgan appeared to fall ill and required medical attention during Monday night’s NBA game between the New York Knicks and Miami Heat at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The ’30 Rock’ and ‘Saturday Night Live’ star was courtside for the Eastern Conference tilt, as he is for most Knicks games during the season. Social media photos showed that Morgan became ill in the third quarter, causing a delay to the game as he was tended to.

Video posted on X showed Morgan being taken off the court in a wheelchair during the delay in the third quarter. Another post alleged the actor was dealing with a nosebleed, as well.

After the delay, the Knicks closed out the matchup with a 116-95 win over the visiting Heat.

‘We hope everything’s good with Tracy Morgan,’ Knicks guard Josh Hart said after the game. ‘Avid, lifetime Knick fan so prayers go out to him and his health and safety.’

The 56-year-old comedian has dealt with multiple health issues. In 2010, he underwent a kidney transplant; in 2014, he spent two weeks in a coma following a car crash.

‘We hope Tracy feels better soon and look forward to seeing him back courtside,’ a Madison Square Garden representative told PEOPLE.

This story will be updated with more information as it becomes available.

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders addressed recent speculation about his future in Boulder on Monday by saying he’s not concerned about a contract extension for himself until he gets other things in place for his program, including more big names for his coaching staff.

Asked if there were contract talks with the university, Sander said, “Maybe.”

“I don’t know,” he said at his first news conference of the spring football season. “I ain’t worried about me. Let’s get everybody else straight first. Then I’m good.”

Sanders, 57, is in the third year of a five-year contract at Colorado that runs through 2027. He earned $5.7 million last year in guaranteed pay, which ranked fourth among public schools in the Big 12 Conference. But recent comments and developments have raised questions about his future. Earlier this month, Sanders made a cryptic remark about money on a show called The Morning Run.

After talking about the beauty of Boulder, he said, “These people better go and get money money and stop playing. Bye. Bye.”

It’s not clear what he was referencing. It could have been pay for his staff and players or himself. Or something else.

In January, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt, a former Colorado quarterback, said Sanders had a “very, very, very good offer in front of him from Colorado, and I don’t know why it hasn’t been signed.”

Sanders also had a brief flirtation with the Dallas Cowboys after that coaching job opened up. Before that, in December, Sanders had hinted at a new contract at Colorado.

“I’m confident that we’re gonna get something done to keep me here so that we can bring this wonderful city a national championship,” Sanders said on the Rich Eisen Show then.

‘Huge moves’ on the way for Deion Sanders’ coaching staff

Sanders’ comments on Monday shed more light on the situation as Colorado is working on new contracts for several assistant coaches whose original two-year deals recently expired, including linebackers coach Andre Hart. Meanwhile, Sanders suggested on Monday that he might add to his staff.

“We have a couple more huge moves we’ll probably make this week, maybe one next week that you’re gonna really appreciate the understanding of how wonderful this staff is,” Sanders said. “I always tell you, the rod and thy staff, they comfort me. And these guys we’re bringing in, along with these guys I just announced, gives me tremendous comfort.”

Sanders recently hired Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk as the teams’ running backs coach and former NFL lineman Domata Peko as a defensive line coach. Colorado recently gave a new contract to defensive coordinator Robert Livingston, which nearly doubled his pay from $800,000 last year to $1.5 million this year. But a new contract has not yet been announced for offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who is due to make $850,000 this year under his current deal, much less than his counterpart on the other side of the ball.

Deion Sanders won’t cancel spring game

Sanders also announced Monday that his team’s annual intrasquad spring game on April 19 will be televised by ESPN2 and said his team’s pro timing day for all 32 NFL teams will be in Boulder on April 4. Several Colorado players are scheduled to attend the Big 12 Conference pro timing event for NFL scouts this week in Texas. But Sanders said not all players would participate in the workouts there and instead would wait for CU’s pro day April 4.

Unlike other college programs, Sanders also said he wants to keep playing a spring game, possibly even by staging it against another team. Nebraska coach Matt Rhule is among those who have talked about canceling public spring games for various reasons, including because of concerns that it leads to tampering by other teams who might try to lure his players away after watching them in a spring showcase.

“You’re not gonna stop nobody from leaving your program by not having a spring game,” Sanders said Monday. “If you want to save money, just say that.”

Anybody who wants to transfer out of your program “is already gone,” Sanders said.

“It’s not gonna stop it,’ Sanders said. “I’m thinking of a way to improve it. That’s why I want to play against somebody.”

Syracuse head coach Fran Brown responded to this Monday by expressing interest in practicing against Colorado this spring. He told Sanders on social media site X that ‘we will come to Boulder for 3 days.’

Instead of worrying about his players being lured away after the spring game, Sanders said he might add some more transfer players to his roster next month. He also made a bold statement about his current team after losing Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and his quarterback son Shedeur to the NFL draft. Colorado finished 9-4 last year after going 4-8 in Sanders’ first season in 2023.

“I feel like we will have a better team,” he said. “I really do.”

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Getting into the 68-team NCAA Tournament field was a long, anxious process for the North Carolina men’s basketball team, which had to sweat out Selection Sunday in a way that a program of its pedigree isn’t accustomed to doing.

Getting to their first March Madness game has proven to be equally challenging for the Tar Heels.

Coach Hubert Davis’ team arrived late in Dayton, Ohio, Monday and missed its scheduled news conference and practice ahead of its First Four game Tuesday night against San Diego State. The NCAA acknowledged the change in plans, which it described in a statement as being related to “travel issues.”

Those issues, according to the Raleigh News & Observer, occurred when North Carolina’s NCAA-chartered flight arrived late at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The plane landed in Dayton at 6:29 p.m. ET, about two-and-a-half hours behind its originally-scheduled arrival.

The Tar Heels had been slated to begin their 40-minute practice at 6:35 p.m. ET, but didn’t take the floor until 8:11 p.m. ET.

“We just kind of stuck with it,” North Carolina forward Ven-Allen Lubin said, according to Luke DeCock of the News & Observer. “It was affecting everybody on the team but we stuck together. We just hung out, talked, interacted with each other. We bonded. It wasn’t an issue. We’re here now.”

After an up-and-down regular season, North Carolina, with a 22-13 record and a 1-12 mark in Quadrant One games, was the last team in the NCAA Tournament field. When coupled with West Virginia’s surprising exclusion, the move generated significant backlash and heated chatter, particularly since Tar Heels athletic director Bubba Cunningham was the chair of the tournament selection committee.

You’re just recovering from the madness of Selection Sunday and the reveal of the 68 teams in the NCAA men’s tournament bracket. Now comes the hard part: Trying to make your picks on which teams will advance, which teams will be upset and which teams will reach the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas.

If you’re a veteran of filling out a bracket, you might feel like advice is beneath you, but even the strongest players can benefit from tips for this year’s NCAA field or a historical look at how the seeds have performed in the tournament.

Want more in-depth analysis of the region? Here are our breakdowns of the East, West,  Midwest and South.

And do you want some expert brackets to help guide you? Here are our best from the USA TODAY Sports staff as they predict every game through the Final Four and national championship.

Jordan Mendoza

Full bracket

• Final Four: Michigan State, Florida, Duke, Houston
• Final: Florida vs. Houston
• National champion: Houston

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Paul Myerberg

Full bracket

• Final Four: Auburn, St. John’s, Duke, Tennessee
• Final: Auburn vs. Duke
• National champion: Duke

Erick Smith

Full bracket

• Final Four: Michigan State, Texas Tech, Duke, Tennessee
• Final: Michigan State vs. Duke
• National champion: Duke

Eddie Timanus

Full bracket

• Final Four: Auburn, Florida, Duke, Houston
• Final: Florida vs. Duke
• National champion: Florida

Dan Wolken

Full bracket

• Final Four: Michigan State, Florida, Duke, Houston
• Final: Florida vs. Duke
• National champion: Duke