There are two "double bubble" games on Saturday, including one between two teams among my last four in Friday's projected bracket.
Time is starting to run out on all of these teams. The end of the regular season is just a couple weeks away. The bubble will start to shrink after this week as the number of games left gets smaller.
Check out all the teams on Palm's Bubble Watch, the field of the 68 and the entire bracket on the Bracketology hub
Saturday's "double bubble" games
Butler at Seton Hall
8:30 p.m. | FS2
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| The Bulldogs, the first team out of the bracket as of Friday, are now two games below .500 against the top three quadrants and that's a big problem. They need to finish 3-1 to get back to even par entering the Big East Tournament, but this is the toughest of those games. | |
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| The Pirates, who are part of the "next four out" in the latest bracket, have some winnable home games left and it would behoove them to win them. Seton Hall is a .500 team against each of the top three quadrants, but I guess that shows consistency. Its two road games remaining are at Creighton and UConn, so that is why the home games are so important. | |
Utah at Colorado
9 p.m. | Pac-12 Network
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| This is a battle between two teams that are in the "last four in" for the field of 68. The Utes are slightly ahead at the moment mostly because of wins over St. Mary's and BYU in nonconference play. They also won the first battle with the Buffaloes at home. But like many teams in this part of the bracket, winning away from home has been a challenge. | |
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| Colorado is held back in part because of a poor nonconference schedule. The Buffaloes didn't even play the kind of games that Utah won to separate itself from Colorado at the moment. There is no question that the Buffaloes need this game more than Utah does, but regardless of the outcome, both teams will still have work to do. | |
Other bubble teams in action Saturday
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| vs. Duke, 2 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) -- Wake Forest is sitting on one Quad 1 win (Florida) and is 5-9 vs. the top two quadrants. The Demon Deacons could use some better wins and this is the best potential win left on the regular season schedule. They still have Quad 1 games left at Virginia Tech and the season finale at home to Clemson. | |
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| at Illinois, 2:15 p.m. | Big Ten Network, fuboTV (Try for free) -- The Hawkeyes are new to the bubble, but not in the field of 68 following their win at Michigan State on Tuesday. Iowa is currently 10-11 against the top three quadrants and teams rarely make the field if they are below .500 against that group, but two teams (Providence, West Virginia) did last year. The Hawkeyes have three Quad 1 chances left including a home and home with the Illini. | |
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| at TCU, 3 p.m. | ESPN+ -- The Bearcats took a bad loss to Oklahoma State at home this week and that puts a lot more pressure on games like this. This is the first of three out of four on the road and all three road opponents are in the bracket. It's a great opportunity and they need to take advantage. | |
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| vs. South Carolina. 3:30 p.m. | SEC Network, fuboTV (Try for free) -- Ole Miss has a bad strength of schedule in large part due to a horrendous nonconference schedule. You can't really blame a first-year coach for wanting to take it easy, but in this case, it could cost the Rebels a tournament berth. They get the Gamecocks followed by Alabama on their home court this week. If Ole Miss is going to play in the NCAA Tournament this season, it may need to win both. | |
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| vs. North Carolina, 4 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) -- The Cavaliers are coming off a disastrous result at Virginia Tech, but this is a great chance to make up for it. UNC is a current No. 1 seed and even though this is at home, it would be the biggest win of the season for Virginia. It is also their best chance to add a Quad 1 win to their list this season. | |
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| at Kansas, 6 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) -- Texas is just a .500 team against the top three quadrants, but it has three Quad 1 games left, all on the road. It would help the Longhorns' case significantly if they could steal one of those, especially a win at Kansas, where the Jayhawks seem to be invincible. | |
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| at California, 7 p.m. | Pac-12 Network, fuboTV (Try for free) -- The Ducks took care of business at Stanford and now need to do the same at Cal. They get a shot at games that can help them after this one. Oregon finishes at Arizona and with home games against Colorado and Utah. | |
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| at Wyoming, 7:30 p.m. | Stadium -- The Broncos are more comfortably in the field than some of the other teams on this list, but that could change if they lose to the Cowboys. Wyoming has already beaten Nevada and Colorado State at home this season. | |
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| at Tennessee, 8 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) -- The Aggies are about out of chances. The loss at home to Arkansas was their fourth Quad 3 loss of the season, and only because it moved the Razorbacks' home win over TAMU up to Quad 2. Four of their last five regular season games are against tournament contenders and they probably need to win three of them, plus the game at Georgia. | |
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| at LSU, 8:30 p.m. | SEC Network, fuboTV (Try for free) -- The Bulldogs have a couple of good home wins and a win over Washington State that looks better every day, but losses to Georgia Tech and Southern are dragging them down a bit. This is the last team on their schedule that is not in contention for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but they are dangerous, especially at home. | |
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| vs. Santa Clara, 10 p.m. | ESPN2, fuboTV (Try for free) -- One of the problems with Gonzaga's tournament resume is its Quad 2 loss at Santa Clara back in January. The Bulldogs definitely cannot afford to get caught looking ahead to next week and get swept by the Broncos. | |
NCAA Tournament locks
Locks based on resume: 11 | Bids secured: 0 | At-large spots remaining: 21
| Conference | Locks | Teams |
|---|---|---|
ACC | 2 | Duke, North Carolina |
Big East | 2 | |
Big Ten | 1 | |
Big 12 | 4 | |
Pac-12 | 1 | |
SEC | 1 | |
0 | ||
Others | 0 |
Near the cut line
| First 4 Out | Team | Record | NET |
|---|---|---|---|
| Butler | 16-11 | 62 |
| Texas A&M | 15-11 | 49 |
| Cincinnati | 16-10 | 45 |
| Oregon | 18-8 | 59 |
| Next 4 Out | Team | Record | NET |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seton Hall | 17-9 | 65 |
| Wake Forest | 17-9 | 27 |
 | Providence | 18-9 | 56 |
| Iowa | 16-11 | 63 |
Note – all references to NCAA Tournament selection records and trends based on NET rankings excludes the 2021 tournament. Due to shortened schedules and a relatively small number of non-conference games, those rankings are not reliable enough to be considered.
