Well, that was interesting. The Big East Tournament started off with a bang as Syracuse got demolished and will probably have home-court throughout the NIT, while West Virginia held on against Providence and, as long as they don’t get blown out today by UCONN, will enter lock status tomorrow.
Villanova now enters the Bubble Watch and still needs to beat Georgetown to lock up a spot. I bring this up because people are ready to put Nova in; and my question is did beating a clear NIT team in Syracuse, really push you over the edge about Villanova? The answer is obviously no, which is why the Wildcats need to take care of business this afternoon to receive an at-large bid.
Bubble Watch will now be updated daily.
There are 31 conference winners that receive automatic bids and 34 At-Large berths available.
Here are the conferences that will have one bid (18): Butler (Horizon), Cornell (Ivy League), Winthrop (Big South), Austin Peay (Ohio Valley), Belmont (Atlantic Sun), Siena (MAAC), Davidson (Southern), Oral Roberts (Summit), Mount St. Mary's (Northeast), Portland State (Big Sky), America East, Big West, MAC, MEAC, Patriot, Southland, SWAC and WAC
After the one-bid conferences, there are 33 spots that are “Locked in” for possibly multiple bid leagues:
A10 (1): Xavier
ACC (4): Duke, UNC, Clemson, Miami
Big East (6): UCONN, Georgetown, Marquette, Notre Dame, Louisville, Pitt
Big Ten (4): Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan St
Big 12 (3): Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma
C-USA (1): Memphis
Colonial (1): George Mason
Missouri Valley (1): Drake
Mountain West (1): BYU
Pac 10 (4): UCLA, Wash St, USC, Stanford
SEC (3): Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Miss St
Sun Belt (1): Western Kentucky
WCC (3): Gonzaga, St Mary’s, San Diego
So that leaves 14 spots for potential at-large teams. Each bubble team has a short statement of how many games it needs to win in its respective conference tournament to receive at-large consideration.
Note: Teams in BOLD are teams that would make the field if the season ended today.
A10
Bubble 4: UMASS, Dayton, St Joe’s, Temple
UMASS: A trip to the semis or beyond should be good enough.
Dayton: Squeaked by St Louis and most likely has to beat X today to still have a shot.
St Joe’s: Has to take care of Richmond today and win tomorrow.
Temple: Finals trip might do it, but most likely needs the auto-bid.
ACC
Bubble 2: Virginia Tech, Maryland
Virginia Tech: Beat Miami in the quarters and keep it close against UNC.
Maryland: Needs at least two, but most likely has to go to the finals to secure a bid.
Big East
Bubble 2: West Virginia, Villanova
WVU:As long as they don’t lose by 20+ today, lock status awaits.
Villanova: Took care of Syracuse, but still has to beat Georgetown today to solidify a bid.
Big 10
Bubble 1: Ohio St
Ohio St: Beat MSU in the quarters and the Buckeyes should be dancing.
Big 12
Bubble 3: Baylor, Kansas St, Texas A&M
Baylor: One win and the Bears are dancing.
Kansas St: Probably in either way, but a win would solidify a bid.
Texas A&M: Needs 1 for sure; maybe 2.
Colonial
Bubble 1: VCU
VCU: Should get a bid, but tough loss to W&M in the tourney semis.
Conference USA
Bubble 1: UAB
UAB: Finals run will get the Blazers into the discussion.
Missouri Valley
Bubble 1: Illinois St
Illinois St: Should get a bid, but probably need some teams above them in the pecking order to lose.
Mountain West
Bubble 2: UNLV, New Mexico
UNLV: Reach the finals of the tournament.
New Mexico: See above.
Pac 10
Bubble 3: Arizona St, Arizona, Oregon
Arizona St: Beat USC and the Sun Devils will be dancing.
Arizona:Got one win, though RPI soared 10+ spots? Needs to beat Stanford today to lock up a bid.
Oregon: Two wins and it'll be tough to leave the Ducks out.
SEC
Bubble 4: Kentucky, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Florida
Kentucky: Might be in already; but winning one more will lock it up.
Ole Miss: Two wins might do it. Better get 3 just to be safe.
Arkansas: See Kentucky.
Florida: Finals or bust.
Sun Belt
Bubble 1: South Alabama
South Alabama: Profile isn’t spectacular, but has done enough to warrant a bid.
Last 4 in: Ohio St, Oregon, Illinois St, VCU
Last 4 out: Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Dayton, Villanova
Next 4 out: Virginia Tech, St Joe’s, New Mexico, Maryland
Next update on Friday, March 14
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