Bubble teams picked up some huge wins on Friday. Mississippi State downed Tennessee in the SEC Tournament to move out of the “Last 4 In” section of the bracket for now. I have taken the Bulldogs off the bubble.
Tennessee’s loss dropped the Volunteers from the top line of the bracket. The Vols were replaced by North Carolina, which beat Pitt in the ACC Tournament semifinals. The Tar Heels will play potential bid-stealer NC State for the title on Saturday.
The A-10 will bring a bid stealer as well, but in a twist of irony the stolen bid could be Dayton’s. The Flyers have played themselves down the bracket since being noted as a candidate for the selection committee’s top 16 back on Feb. 17.
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There is also a potential bid-stealing situation in the American. Florida Atlantic will be an at-large team, but South Florida is the top seed. The Bulls need to win the automatic bid to get in.
In the SEC Tournament, Texas A&M beat Kentucky 97-87 to move into the bracket. There is still work to do for the Aggies, who will play Florida in the semifinals on Saturday.
Colorado is still on the bubble, but not among the “Last 4 In” because the Buffaloes are now the placeholder as the automatic qualifier. They beat Washington State and Arizona lost to Oregon, leaving Colorado as the highest remaining seed in the Pac-12 Tournament. The Buffs face Oregon for the automatic bid tonight. The Ducks would definitely be a bid stealer; that bid may be Colorado’s.
Northwestern‘s loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten quarterfinals dropped the Wildcats into the “Last 4 In” of the bracket. They are joined by St. John’s,a loser to UConn in the Big East Tournament semifinals.
New Mexico moved up and out after beating Colorado State in the Mountain West Tournament semifinals.
The bracket was unusually difficult to put together today. The Big 12 and SEC each had four teams in the top 16, and the teams from each of those conferences had to be in separate regions. That was not as easy to accomplish as it sounds.
All times Eastern.
Check out Palm’s latest bracket, full field of 68 and Bubble Watch at the Bracketology hub
Bubble teams in action Saturday
NCAA Tournament locks
Locks based on résumé: 31 | AQ bids secured: 14 | At-large spots remaining: 5
|
ACC |
3 |
Duke, North Carolina, Clemson |
|
Big East |
3 |
UConn, Marquette, Creighton |
|
Big Ten |
3 |
Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin |
|
Big 12 |
7 |
Houston, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, BYU, Texas Tech, Texas |
|
Pac-12 |
2 |
Arizona, Washington State |
|
MWC |
5 |
San Diego State, Utah State, Nevada, Colorado State, Boise State |
|
SEC |
6 |
Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, South Carolina, Florida |
|
WCC |
2 |
Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga |
Near the cut line
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.
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