Bubble Watch

[stever20]

this is what Jerry Palm said about the game:
The win gives the Musketeers hopes of posting a good enough record to stay in consideration for the NCAA tournament. They aren't anywhere near out of the woods yet. With road games left at St. John's and Creighton, and home games with the top two teams in the Big East, Villanova and Butler, there is still some hard work ahead for Xavier.

Meanwhile, the Bearcats suffered their third straight loss, but the schedule will soften up for a bit. They will be favored the next three games, even though two are on the road, and those games are must win because Cincinnati cannot afford any more bad losses.

I think both teams he's pretty much spot on about.

[Jet915]

UCLA loses at Arizona State, RPI is now 43.

[stever20]

UCLA loses at Arizona State, RPI is now 43.

there is such a glut of teams right near there in the 40-51 range
40 Boise .5810
41 Georgia .5808
42 St John's .5807
43 Illinois .5804
44 UCLA .5799
45 Iona .5786
46 Cincy .5773
47 Green Bay .5772
48 NC St .5768
49 Tulsa .5764
50 Pitt .5758
51 Stanford .5762
where 1-2 games will make huge differences.

[TBC Alum]

Cincy's RPI just looked and it's 46 not 47. They should be safe still with wins over Houston, UCF, Tulane, and Memphis. That would get them to 21-10.

They still suck

[gavitspeaks]

Xaviers rpi is now 32, Cincy is 47 and stever is somewhere crying.....haha.

Committee doesn't care about RPI at any meaningful level. Nonetheless, UCincy is terrible. That is not a good basketball team. Can't see them getting in. Of course, the bubble has some bad teams on it. Not sure there are 68 teams worthy.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

The Musketeers get kudos from Jeff Eisenberg in this morning's Dagger:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the ... 44195.html

Bubble Breakdown: UCLA squanders huge chance at Arizona State

Less than two weeks after falling at mediocre Cal by two points, foul-plagued UCLA lost 68-66 at Arizona State on Wednesday night. Sophomore Savon Goodman outplayed the more highly touted Bruins frontcourt, scoring 20 points on 8-for-8 shooting and pulling down 12 rebounds to help rally the Sun Devils from an early 10-point deficit.

BUBBLE TEAMS WHOSE STOCK ROSE WEDNESDAY

Xavier (17-10, 7-7 Big East): If Xavier sneaks into the NCAA tournament, the Musketeers may remember a key 3-pointer by Dee Davis during their 59-57 victory at Cincinnati on Wednesday night as a huge reason for it. Davis' 3-pointer with 52 seconds to go halted an 11-1 Bearcats run and helped Xavier escape with a big road victory in a game it led by 12 at halftime. Not giving away the win was critical for the Musketeers given their remaining schedule. While they'd probably be a No. 10 seed or so were the season to end today, they still have games left against Villanova, Butler and St. John's in Big East play in addition to a tricky road game against a Creighton team that's still playing hard. Even with Wednesday's victory, the Musketeers may need to win at least two of those four.

Colorado State (22-5, 9-5 MWC)

Boise State (19-7, 9-4 MWC)

Miami (17-9, 7-6 ACC)

Tulsa (18-7, 11-2 AAC)

Rhode Island (18-6, 10-3 A-10)

Oregon (19-8, 9-5 Pac-12)


BUBBLE TEAMS WHOSE STOCK FELL TUESDAY

Cincinnati (17-9, 8-5 AAC): Once well on its way to a return trip to the NCAA tournament, Cincinnati has slid back to the bubble with three straight losses to Temple, Tulane and Xavier. The loss to the Musketeers on Wednesday night was especially frustrating considering the Bearcats fought back from a 12-point halftime deficit to take a lead only to see their Crosstown rivals regain control. Cincinnati would probably still be in the field of 68 by virtue of quality wins over San Diego State, SMU, Temple and NC State, but its margin for error is rapidly diminishing. The Bearcats would be wise to snap this losing streak at Houston on Saturday and avoid anymore bad losses the rest of the season.

UMass (16-10, 9-4 A-10)

George Washington (17-9, 7-6 A-10)

[hoyahooligan]

UCLA loses at Arizona State, RPI is now 43.

there is such a glut of teams right near there in the 40-51 range
40 Boise .5810
41 Georgia .5808
42 St John's .5807
43 Illinois .5804
44 UCLA .5799
45 Iona .5786
46 Cincy .5773
47 Green Bay .5772
48 NC St .5768
49 Tulsa .5764
50 Pitt .5758
51 Stanford .5762
where 1-2 games will make huge differences.

I think St. John's is the only one I would take off of that list.

[Bill Marsh]

UCLA loses at Arizona State, RPI is now 43.

there is such a glut of teams right near there in the 40-51 range
40 Boise .5810
41 Georgia .5808
42 St John's .5807
43 Illinois .5804
44 UCLA .5799
45 Iona .5786
46 Cincy .5773
47 Green Bay .5772
48 NC St .5768
49 Tulsa .5764
50 Pitt .5758
51 Stanford .5762
where 1-2 games will make huge differences.

I think St. John's is the only one I would take off of that list.

What would you do with St. John's after you take them off the list?

Are you saying they're solid and 1-2 games won't matter?

[hoyahooligan]

I think St. John's is the only one I would take off of that list.

What would you do with St. John's after you take them off the list?

Are you saying they're solid and 1-2 games won't matter?

I'm saying if I was picking teams for the tournament today. I would put St. John's in the tournament and the rest would be out.

That being said going strictly by RPI all those teams would be in the tournament as of today. Bubble is super weak in the sense that most of those teams aren't very good yet likely will make the tournament.

[stever20]

I think St. John's is the only one I would take off of that list.

What would you do with St. John's after you take them off the list?

Are you saying they're solid and 1-2 games won't matter?

I'm saying if I was picking teams for the tournament today. I would put St. John's in the tournament and the rest would be out.

You understand that most of those teams on that list would be in right now.

St John's absolutely is on the bubble. Pretty much have to win at least 3 of 4 to have a chance before the final nova game.