Bracketology Bubble Watch: Georgia knocks Florida to a No. 2 seed, moves closer to making field of 68
Georgia got the big win on Tuesday, defeating No. 1 seed Florida 88-83. The Bulldogs moved up to the second team out and knocked the Gators down to a No. 2 seed with Houston moving up to the top line. Georgia is still two games below .500 against the top three quadrants and doesn't just need quality wins, it also needs a quantity of wins. The opportunities are there, though.
Cincinnati hung on to beat Baylor at home 69-67. That's a Quad 2 win and noteworthy that Baylor is a bracket team, but maybe not for long. The Bears have lost four of five and now join the group of teams on the bubble as well as those that are two games below .500 against the top three quadrants. The Bears are currently 10-12.
It is looking more and more certain that at least one team will make the tournament with that mark on their resume. There may be too many to leave them all out.
One team that's off the bubble is Gonzaga. The Bulldogs won at Santa Clara 95-76 and should be safe with only one regular-season game left. That was the 21st double-digit win of the season for Gonzaga with only the Bulldogs' 88-80 win over Arizona State by fewer than ten points. None of their losses were by double digits though and that is why Gonzaga is the No. 8 team in the NET without a win over anyone better than Baylor.
There are ten bubble games Wednesday, but none are more meaningful than the "double bubble" showdown between Texas and Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Check out Palm's latest bracket, full field of 68 and Bubble Watch at the Bracketology hub
All times ET
Wednesday's double-bubble game9 p.m. | ESPN2, fubo (Try for free)
These teams have similar profiles. Each are 9-11 vs the top three quadrants. The Longhorns have a couple more wins and one more loss in Quad 2. The primary reason why the Razorbacks are ahead at the moment though is that they won in Austin. Texas will be looking to even the score in the head-to-head matchups and move ahead in the bracket pecking order.
Other bubble teams in action Wednesdayvs. Georgetown, 6:30 p.m. | FS1, fubo (Try for free)
UConn can get off the bubble by winning the games it should. The reason the Huskies are here though is that they have not done that often enough. We may not ever see the version of UConn we all expected to see this season, but we will probably see one good enough to make the tournament. Winning vs. the Hoyas is an important step to that goal.
at Texas A&M, 7 p.m. | SEC Network, fubo (Try for free)
Vandy is on the high side of the bubble at the moment but the Commodores have a tough finishing schedule. They play Mizzou and Arkansas at home after this, then travel to Georgia to end the regular season. They'll need a couple of wins along the way.
vs. Penn State, 8:30 p.m. | Big Ten Network, fubo (Try for free)
Indiana is coming off a big win over Purdue that put the Hoosiers in the bracket for now. They can't be too fat and happy over that win to not take Penn State seriously. A loss to the Nittany Lions would be giving away what good Indiana did on Sunday. It would also be the Hoosiers' first quad 2 loss of the season.
vs. Kentucky, 9 p.m. | SEC Network, fubo (Try for free)
The Sooners got a big home win over Mississippi State last weekend to put a bit of space between themselves and the cut line, but they have a tough schedule ahead. After this, they are at Ole Miss, home to Mizzou and at Texas. They probably need two of these four to feel some comfort going into the SEC Tournament.
vs. Virginia, 9 p.m. | ESPNU, fubo (Try for free)
Wake Forest just lost a game like this and that puts an end to their margin for error for bad losses. Unfortunately, they are in the ACC, so they have nothing but bad home games left on the schedule. Oh, yeah - and a game at Duke next week. That won't matter if the Demon Deacons cough up another game like this one..
at Arizona State, 9:30 p.m. | ESPN+
BYU is the hottest of the bubble teams, having won four in a row after losing at Cincinnati on Feb. 8. The Cougars might be able to lose this game and still get in the field, but they also have a road game with Iowa State ahead. Winning the home games with West Virginia and Utah should set them up well entering the Big 12 Tournament.
vs. Utah State, 10:30 p.m. | FS1, fubo (Try for free)
If the Broncos are going to make a run, this game is a must. It is their last chance to beat a potential NCAA Tournament team before the Mountain West Tournament. They have a couple of Quad 3 losses they are trying to play out of the mind of the committee. A strong finish would help.
at Oregon State, 11 p.m. | CBS Sports Network (Channel finder)
The Dons are on the far end of the bubble, but this is a Quad 2 game and Gonzaga is next. If they win both, they will have home wins over the Zags, Saint Mary's and Boise State. They would need to make some noise in the conference tournament as well.
at California, 11 p.m. | ESPNU, fubo (Try for free)
The Mustangs have not found the formula for overcoming their poor strength of schedule. They have taken some swings, but have only missed so far. Their next swings will come in the ACC Tournament if they don't make that irrelevant before then.
Teams near the cut line NCAA Tournament locksLocks based on résumé: 20 | At-large bids in play: 17| Automatic bids secured: 0 of 31
| ACC (1) | Duke |
| Big East (2) | Marquette, St. John's |
| Big 12 (3) | Houston, Iowa State, Texas Tech |
| Big Ten (7) | Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Oregon, Purdue, UCLA, Wisconsin |
| SEC (7) | Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas A&M |
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 nonconference games, those rankings are not reliable enough to be considered.
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