Bubble Watch

[Hoopfan]

Davidson and UCLA sure helped themselves last night. Davidson seems solid. The remaining schedule favors UCLA.

URI and Illinois are in trouble.

Davidsons schedule is pretty good for them as well. GW has been going downhill, VCU is missing a few players, and finish off @ Duquesne who doesn't look that good but just best dayton. Davidson has a very good shot at making at large. Crazy thing, they were the Butler of the A10 expected to be bottom of the pack

[stever20]

Georgia came up with a big road win overOle Miss, removing any doubts about their status and putting pressure on Ole Miss to win down the stretch.

Illinois dropped their 3rd in a row, losing to Iowa, and has pretty much faded from the tournament picture.

For Ole Miss- if they can get 1 of these 2 road games coming up (LSU, Alabama), and then Vandy at home- they're safely in.

Illinois hardly has faded. If they can beat the surging Northwestern team, and then Nebraska, they are up to 19 wins. Win a game in the Big Ten tourney and they're 20. Should get them in at that point unless something crazy happens.

[Bill Marsh]

Georgia came up with a big road win overOle Miss, removing any doubts about their status and putting pressure on Ole Miss to win down the stretch.

Illinois dropped their 3rd in a row, losing to Iowa, and has pretty much faded from the tournament picture.

For Ole Miss- if they can get 1 of these 2 road games coming up (LSU, Alabama), and then Vandy at home- they're safely in.

Illinois hardly has faded. If they can beat the surging Northwestern team, and then Nebraska, they are up to 19 wins. Win a game in the Big Ten tourney and they're 20. Should get them in at that point unless something crazy happens.

Why are you arguing, Steve? Their RPI has dropped to 60. I'm simply stating a fact when I say that they've faded.

Is 2 more wins and a win in the B10 tourney all they've got to do? Cake walk, right? They struggled against Northwestern & Nebraska earlier in the season, losing to Nebraska by 10 and winning a close game against Northwestern by 5. They should win both of those, but these will obviously be tough games for them and the pressure will be on them to win the games they should. Then you want them to win a game in the B10 tourney, which will likely be against Michigan, a team they lost to by 13 earlier in the season before later beating them at home by 8. It certainly isn't crazy to think that they will lose one of these 3 games.

[stever20]

pretty quiet night on the bubble...
Temple 7th team in beat Houston
Oregon 5th team in beat Cal
Purdue 4th team in beat Rutgers
Stanford 1st team out beat Oregon St
Tulsa 3rd team out beat Tulane
BYU 7th team out beat Portland

Looking at Lunardi's bracket math- the Michigan St upset loss to Minnesota is big. Mich St was #25. #26 is Providence and #28 is Xavier. Would put Providence 1 slot away from a 6 seed, which is HUGE.

[stever20]

Lunardi updated his bracket-
important 16-
last 4 byes
Colorado St
Oregon
Temple
Cincy

last 4 in
Purdue
Davidson
UCLA
Stanford

First 4 out
Texas
Tulsa
Boise St
Illinois

next 4 out
Pittsburgh
Miami
BYU
Old Dominion

bubble games tomorrow
BYU @ Gonzaga
Texas @ Kansas
North Carolina @ Miami
Boise St @ San Diego St
Cincy @ Tulane
Old Dominion @ North Texas
Northwestern @ Illinois
GW @ Davidson
Tulsa @ Memphis
Sunday
Pittsburgh @ Wake Forest
Oregon @ Stanford
Purdue @ Ohio St
Washington St @ UCLA

Some huge games. non tourney teams BYU, Texas, Miami, Boise St with chances to get huge top 25 wins. Huge bubble game on Sunday with Oregon and Stanford. We'll have a whole lot better idea of the bubble come Sunday evening.

[stever20]

NC State back on the bubble after a horrible loss to BC. They were #36 but would fall dramatically.

tweet of the day from Jeff Borzello:
NC State and the bubble are never able to truly break up and go their separate ways.

[TheBall]

How worried are we about Xavier? They don't seem to be on the bubble in most projections, but a loss against Creighton puts them below .500 in conference and a potential 14 loss resume.

[gavitspeaks]

How worried are we about Xavier? They don't seem to be on the bubble in most projections, but a loss against Creighton puts them below .500 in conference and a potential 14 loss resume.

I think we should all consider it a job well done if we get 5 in, which we will. Gonna be tough to get that sixth team in I think. As we said a week or two ago, teams will play their way in and out. That's happened. St. John's is in. Purdue will likely be in. Davidson has a legit chance, which after today's UD win, likely means 3 from the A10.

No offense to Xavier but they haven't olayed themselves in. Xavier is hanging it's hat on SOS. They are better than that. That's a weak argument. Their last 11 games have not been good.

Congrats to the Johnnies!!!!! Great stuff. That's a terrific story.

[stever20]

bubble update for Saturday:
last 4 byes
Colorado St DNP
Oregon DNP
Temple DNP
Cincy beat Tulane

last 4 in
Purdue DNP
Davidson beat GW
UCLA DNP
Stanford DNP

First 4 out
Texas lost to Kansas(now 17-12)
Tulsa beat Memphis
Boise St beat San Diego St
Illinois beat Northwestern

next 4 out
Pittsburgh DNP
Miami lost to UNC
BYU beat Gonzaga
Old Dominion beat North Texas

tomorrow Oregon/Stanford game is huge. Plus Purdue with a huge chance to get a big win. for Pitt and UCLA absolute must win games.

outside of that on the bubble- Dayton, LSU and St John's with HUGE wins today. all 3 were in the 5-7 on the last byes list. Meanwhile, 9 seed NC State put themselves in deep trouble with their loss to BC.

[Bill Marsh]

How worried are we about Xavier? They don't seem to be on the bubble in most projections, but a loss against Creighton puts them below .500 in conference and a potential 14 loss resume.

How likely is a Xavier loss to Creighton?