I think this is the best day of conference tournament action every year. Almost all of the bubble teams still alive in their conference tournaments are in action. In fact, most of the teams in the bracket will be playing Thursday. There is a lot at stake when it comes to selection and seeding.
West Virginia played its way off the bubble Wednesday with a win over Texas Tech. The Mountaineers moved to 19-13 on the season and now get a shot at Kansas. I do not think a loss to the Jayhawks puts West Virginia in danger of missing the NCAA tournament.
Wisconsin was the only bubble team to lose on Wednesday. The Badgers lost to Ohio State to drop to 17-14 for the season. It has been a strange season for Wisconsin, but one that is not going to be good enough to get into the NCAA Tournament.
It’s wall-to-wall bubble action today, starting with a likely elimination game in the Big Ten. We will also see if North Carolina can get its second Quad 1 win of the season against the same team it beat for its first one.
NCAA Tournament locks
Locks based on résumé: 27 | Bids secured: 14 | At-large spots remaining: 4
|
ACC |
3 |
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|
Big East |
4 |
|
|
Big Ten |
4 |
|
|
Big 12 |
5 |
|
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Pac-12 |
2 |
|
|
SEC |
5 |
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American |
1 |
|
|
Others |
3 |
On the cutline
| Last Four In | Record | NET |
|---|---|---|
| Penn State | 19-12 | 55 |
| Mississippi State | 20-11 | 46 |
| Utah State | 24-7 | 22 |
| Michigan | 17-14 | 54 |
| First Four Out | Record | NET |
| Oklahoma State | 18-14 | 41 |
| North Carolina | 20-12 | 44 |
| Arizona State | 21-11 | 65 |
| Rutgers | 18-13 | 43 |
| Next Four Out | Record | NET |
| Clemson | 22-9 | 61 |
| Oregon | 18-13 | 47 |
| Vanderbilt | 18-13 | 82 |
| Wisconsin | 17-14 | 81 |
Check out all the teams on Palm’s Bubble Watch, the field of the 68 and the entire bracket on the Bracketology hub
Thursday’s ‘double bubble’ games
Michigan vs. Rutgers
12 p.m. | Big Ten Network, fuboTV (Try for free)
Arizona State vs. USC
11:30 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free)
Bubble teams in action Thursday
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.
