If you like watching teams fight to get into the NCAA Tournament, Saturday is your day. There are 18 games featuring teams on the bubble, including three double-bubble games. With just 15 days remaining before Selection Sunday, many of these teams are running out of chances to secure their spot.
Five of the seven major conferences are represented, with the Big Ten's one bubble team playing on Sunday. The American Athletic Conference does not have a bubble team at the moment. The West Coast Conference and Atlantic 10 also have bubble games Saturday.
After Saturday, the bubble will shrink some more as the list of teams that are headed to the field of 68 becomes more apparent. (All times Eastern)
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L 70-62 at DePaul Marquette has some nice road wins against teams in the middle of the Big East and it swept Seton Hall. Unfortunately, it has been a hit-and-miss season for the Golden Eagles, with not enough hits and too many misses. One thing you can say about them is that they do not have a bad loss yet. This is a team that needs wins of any quality and it will not get any easier than at DePaul, which isn't necessarily easy. | |
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W 74-69 at Georgetown Providence is still living off big home wins over Villanova and Xavier, and there are certainly worse things to live off of. The Friars have not been particularly good on the road though, and Georgetown is playing better. The Hoyas are just a week removed from a win at Hinkle over Butler. Providence already has three bad losses. It can ill afford another. | |
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L 82-72 at TCU Baylor used a five-game winning streak to climb onto the bubble, and now is trying to hold on after West Virginia beat the Bears at home. At 16-11, 9-11 against the top three quadrants, the margin for error is very small. Baylor has to pick up some wins on the road to finish this rise to the bracket. | |
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W 75-68 at Virginia Tech Louisville needs quality wins to fill out its tournament résumé and those chances are here. The Cardinals end the season with three Quadrant 1 games, two of which are on the road. They probably need to win at least two of them to have much of a chance for an at-large bid entering the ACC Tournament. After this, Louisville hosts Virginia and travels to NC State. | |
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W 79-78 vs. Boston College Miami has a rather pedestrian tournament résumé. The Hurricanes beat Middle Tennessee in a tournament in Hawaii and have road wins over fellow bubblers Virginia Tech and NC State, but they also lost on the road to Boston College and Wake Forest. They are lacking that higher-quality win that can push them up the bracket and off the bubble. Miami won at Notre Dame to end a three-game skid and needs to avoid taking a bad loss while it waits for better opponents to résumé-build against. | |
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W 65-64 vs. Oklahoma State The Longhorns have fallen off the bracket for now. They are just 16-12 overall and 11-12 vs. the first three quadrants. Their schedule is not a problem, other than it might have been too difficult for this team. Texas still has to go to Kansas and hosts West Virginia, so this game against Oklahoma State is a must win. | |
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W 89-83 (OT) vs. Villanova Creighton has had a relatively predictable Big East season. The Bluejays have yet to beat either Villanova or Xavier and have generally taken care of business against the bottom of the league. Against their fellow middle-of-the-pack teams, they won at home and lost on the road. The Bluejays are only 2-7 against Quadrant 1 though with two such games left in the regular season. A win here would clinch a spot for them, but a loss certainly isn't fatal. | |
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L 74-58 vs. USC The Utes have won eight of their past 10 to make a charge into the bracket. Among those wins are their two best of the season, at Arizona State and Washington. There is very little separation between these two teams in the bracket, which makes this game so important for Utah. You need to defend your home floor when you play teams you might be competing with for a spot in the field. | |
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W 74-58 at Utah USC has a pretty thin tournament résumé, with wins over Middle Tennessee and New Mexico State leading the way. The Trojans also beat Utah at home in their first meeting. I am not sure USC will make the tournament without eventually beating one of the Arizona schools, but it needs to win games like this to make those games matter if they happen. | |
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W 72-68 vs. South Carolina Mississippi State played an awful non-conference schedule and is only 2-7 on the road. The Bulldogs did pick up their first meaningful road win of the season at Texas A&M on Tuesday. That is probably not enough to get them into the bracket just yet, but this game is about avoiding hurting their résumé rather than helping it. | |
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W 89-81 at Vanderbilt Texas A&M is another one of those SEC teams that cannot find any consistency. In the Aggies' past 11 games, they won two straight, lost two, won four and now have a three-game skid. They hit the road for the next two and while neither opponent is tournament caliber, they aren't pushovers either. | |
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W 68-51 at Cal The Huskies have fallen hard after a four-game winning streak that included a home sweep of the Arizona schools. They have lost four of five since then, and only one of those losses came to a potential tournament team. Washington really laid an egg at Stanford its last time out. A loss to last-place Cal might be too much to overcome. | |
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L 86-77 at Oklahoma Kansas State played what might be a record-setting bad non-conference schedule for an at-large team, assuming the Wildcats hold on to a spot in the field. They are only 3-7 against quadrant 1 opponents and only one of those is against a likely tournament team. Even with the Sooners' slide, this is still a potential Q1 win. KSU does not have another chance against Kansas, Texas Tech or West Virginia, teams that swept them in conference play, until the Big 12 tournament. | |
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W 86-77 vs. Kansas State It's desperation time in Norman. Oklahoma was 14-3 and a potential No. 1 seed when Kansas State took the Sooners to the woodshed back on Jan. 16. That started a stretch of nine losses in 11 games, including the past six in a row for Oklahoma. Now, the Sooners are closer to a No. 1 seed in the NIT. Oklahoma does not need a huge turnaround to stay in the bracket, but it needs to start winning before it is too late. | |
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W 67-40 vs. Santa Clara The Gaels' résumé is pretty thin and already has two bad losses on it. A loss to the Broncos would be nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. I am not sure Saint Mary's can afford to lose to anyone except Gonzaga, but it surely cannot afford to lose this one. | |
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L 76-73 vs. Arkansas The Crimson Tide are home-court heroes in the sense that seven of their top eight wins have come in Tuscaloosa. They also have three home losses, so they haven't exactly been invincible. Alabama has lost two in a row, so it is in a good spot to stop that streak. | |
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W 76-73 at Alabama The hole in Arkansas' tournament résumé is the same one it always seems to have -- a lousy road record. This would easily be its best win away from home this season. Arkansas still has to go to Missouri, so the Hogs will have another chance at a good road win if this falls through. | |
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L 60-44 at Duke Needless to say, Syracuse could go a long way toward locking up a spot in the NCAA Tournament with a win at Cameron. The Orange do not have to have this one, but it would be a win few other bubble teams could match. | |
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W 68-63 at VCU The Bonnies have put themselves into position to possibly get an at-large bid, but it is important for them to beat the teams not named Rhode Island. VCU is usually a tough place to get a road win, but St. Bonaventure needs to do that. | |
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at Kentucky, 8:15 p.m., ESPN Things seemed to be going along great for Mizzou, but then the Tigers lost back-to-back games to LSU and Mississippi, the latter of which came at home. Just about every team in the middle of the SEC has a similar story to tell. Trying to get back on track at Rupp Arena is a tall task. | |
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vs. Auburn, 8:30 p.m., SEC Network Most bubble teams would love an opportunity to have a quality opponent at home to try to pad their tournament résumé, but most bubble teams are not Florida. The Gators already have five home losses this season. The Gators have lost three straight and are in danger of falling off the bracket, so this would be a good time to figure out how to win at home | |
Bubble watch
In for now
| Team | RPI | SOS | Next game |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARKANSAS (19-9) | 34 | 38 | Feb 24, 6 p.m. ET @ Alabama |
| BUTLER (19-10) | 31 | 20 | Feb 28, 9 p.m. ET @ St. John's |
| CREIGHTON (19-9) | 41 | 48 | Feb 24, 2:30 p.m. ET vs. Villanova |
| MISSOURI (18-10) | 40 | 25 | Feb 24, 8:15 p.m. ET @ Kentucky |
| ST. MARY'S (26-4) | 36 | 151 | Feb 24, 6 p.m. ET vs. Santa Clara |
| TCU (19-9) | 20 | 14 | Feb 24, 12 p.m. ET vs. Baylor |
On the fence
| Team | RPI | SOS | Next game |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALABAMA (17-11) | 28 | 8 | Feb 24, 6 p.m. ET vs. Arkansas |
| KANSAS ST. (20-8) | 52 | 73 | Feb 24, 6 p.m. ET @ Oklahoma |
| MIAMI (FLA.) (19-8) | 29 | 56 | Feb 24, 2 p.m. ET vs. Boston College |
| MIDDLE TENN. (22-5) | 23 | 94 | Feb 24, 7 p.m. ET vs. UAB |
| NC STATE (19-9) | 56 | 58 | Feb 25, 6 p.m. ET vs. Florida St. |
| OKLAHOMA (16-11) | 33 | 12 | Feb 24, 6 p.m. ET vs. Kansas St. |
| PROVIDENCE (17-11) | 48 | 21 | Feb 24, 12 p.m. ET @ Georgetown |
| ST. BONA. (21-6) | 25 | 92 | Feb 24, 8 p.m. ET @ VCU |
| TEXAS A&M (17-11) | 27 | 6 | Feb 24, 4 p.m. ET @ Vanderbilt |
Work to do
| Team | RPI | SOS | Next game |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAYLOR (17-11) | 58 | 23 | Feb 24, 12 p.m. ET @ TCU |
| BOISE ST. (22-6) | 45 | 120 | Feb 27, 11 p.m. ET @ San Diego St |
| FLORIDA (17-11) | 64 | 37 | Feb 24, 8:30 p.m. ET vs. Auburn |
| LOUISVILLE (18-10) | 49 | 31 | Feb 24, 1 p.m. ET @ Va. Tech |
| MARQUETTE (16-11) | 57 | 18 | Feb 24, 12 p.m. ET @ DePaul |
| MISS. STATE (20-8) | 63 | 104 | Feb 24, 3:30 p.m. ET vs. S. Carolina |
| NEBRASKA (21-9) | 60 | 103 | Feb 25, 5:15 p.m. ET vs. Penn St. |
| SYRACUSE (18-10) | 46 | 22 | Feb 24, 6:15 p.m. ET @ Duke |
| TEXAS (16-12) | 53 | 16 | Feb 24, 2 p.m. ET vs. Oklahoma St. |
| UCLA (19-9) | 50 | 64 | Feb 25, 4 p.m. ET @ Colorado |
| USC (20-9) | 35 | 53 | Feb 24, 2:30 p.m. ET @ Utah |
| UTAH (18-9) | 42 | 59 | Feb 24, 2:30 p.m. ET vs. USC |
| WASHINGTON (18-10) | 54 | 39 | Feb 24, 4:30 p.m. ET @ California |
