Livescore
This is an important time of year because teams are running out of time to get the wins they need to get in the tournament. The bubble is starting to shrink as teams either get more comfortably in the bracket or start to slide too far away. Still it is not too late for a team to join the bubble from either end.
One thing we may not see much of this season is potential bid-stealers. There are only a few non-major conferences where the likely regular-season champion is potentially at-large quality.
The most obvious of those is the American Athletic Conference, where Houston rules the roost. Memphis is a potential at-large team as well, but anyone else would have to win its way in. It is possible such a team could steal Memphis’ bid, but it could also be that of some other bubble team.
FAU is having a great season in Conference USA, but to remain an at-large candidate, the Owls would have to lose in the conference tournament to either UAB or North Texas. Even then, an at-large spot would not be assured.
It would be considered quite an upset if someone besides Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s won the West Coast Conference Tournament, although LMU did beat both teams during the regular season.
Oral Roberts is in the top 50 of the NET and only has Quad 1 losses, but its best win and only win above Quad 3 came at home to Liberty, which is Quad 2. Any loss in the conference tournament would be no better than Quad 3. That is probably not going to work out for the Golden Eagles to be an at-large team.
Of course, bids can be stolen in power conferences also. Virginia Tech stole Dayton’s bid last season by winning the ACC Tournament.
NCAA Tournament locks
Locks based on résumé: 18 | Bids secured: 0 | At-large spots remaining: 36
|
ACC |
1 |
Miami |
|
Big East |
3 |
Marquette, UConn, Xavier |
|
Big Ten |
2 |
Indiana, Purdue |
|
Big 12 |
4 |
Baylor, Kansas, Texas, Kansas State |
|
Pac-12 |
2 |
Arizona, UCLA |
|
SEC |
2 |
Alabama, Tennessee |
|
American |
1 |
Houston |
|
Others |
2 |
Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, San Diego State |
On the cutline
| Last Four In | Record | NET |
|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 16-11 | 72 |
| West Virginia | 16-12 | 26 |
| Oklahoma State | 16-12 | 41 |
| Penn State | 17-11 | 57 |
| First Four Out | Record | NET |
| Mississippi State | 18-10 | 42 |
| New Mexico | 20-8 | 47 |
| Michigan | 16-12 | 62 |
| North Carolina | 17-11 | 48 |
| Next Four Out | Record | NET |
| Utah State | 22-7 | 34 |
| Arizona State | 19-9 | 66 |
| Wake Forest | 17-11 | 80 |
| Seton Hall | 16-12 | 69 |
Check out all the teams on Palm’s Bubble Watch, the field of the 68 and the entire bracket on the Bracketology hub
Bubble teams in action Saturday
All references to NCAA Tournament selection records and trends refer only to tournaments going back to 1994 with the exception of 2021. Due to shortened schedules and a relatively small number of nonconference games in 2021, those rankings were not reliable enough to be considered.
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