The "Bubble"

[tornado]

lots of people like to act like experts and give "bracketology" or their guesses as to who's in and who's out - although every day or two they reshuffle their predictions - meaning they admit they know little and are no more accurate than anyone else who guesses.

it's a little like telling us who is leading in a horse race on the back stretch long ebfore the race is over....it doesn't mean much because teams will move on and off the "bubble"..

anyway - here's a compilation of many teams that people are currently saying are on or near the bubble...

Marquette RPI 71
Indiana RPI 87 -- seriously an 87 RPI but they have beaten some key teams with their home court advantage - and they are Indiana
St. John's RPI 61
Florida State RPI 55 11 losses and 7-8 in league
Southern Miss RPI 35 but really SOFT schedule (SOS 139)
Stanford RPI 42 but 3rd in Pac-12
Oklahoma State RPI 48 but some losses happened when their best player was out
Xavier RPI 46 but they're the 3rd best team in the media-darling Big East Conference
Dayton RPI 56 but 7th best team in A-10
St. Joe's RPI 33 but four mteams in A-10 have better RPI - ?odd man out?
Baylor RPI 41 and ten losses but their SOS is top ten
BYU RPI 34 but a lot of bad losses (Marymount, Portland, Pacific)
Oregon RPI 32 but only 7-8 in Pac-12
Tennessee RPI 50 but some key wins on national TV
Mizzou RPI 47 19-9 with SOS 66
Nebraska RPI 51 - but who is much better in the Big Ten?
Gonzaga RPI 28 but not a lot of key wins
Pitt RPI 45
Minnesota RPI 44 but 7-8 in Big Ten
Richmond RPI 54 but 6th best team in A-10
Cal RPI 49
LSU RPI 67 but...again - they will get the nod over lots of teams with better RPI's
Colorado RPI 26 but could be 6th seed in Pac-12
Indiana State RPI 62 - gotta think they're really a long shot
Kansas State RPI 36 & strong SOS
SMU RPI 37 but weak SOS (120)
George Washington RPI 30 but 8-5 in their own conference (A-10)
Toledo RPI 39 & 22-5 but seriously - they are from a very weak MAC and they had better win their auto-bid
North Dakota State RPI 40 and ditto - same as Toledo


My prediction is almost every team in this list that's a BCS conference team will get in - and if they have to they will use "the eye test" or some other silly argument

[Da Coach]

ESPN's bracket expert Joe Lunardi's latest update of his NCAA bracket projections. He has Wichita State as a #1 seed, and Creighton as a #2 seed-
http://espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology (may be updated again later today)


Jerry Palm of CBSSports has Creighton a #3 seed-

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology

[tornado]

yup - Lunari has almost all those BCS guys including SMU with a terrible SOS and BYU with bad losses - but he does have Indiana going NIT...so what he's doing is just going down the line with RPI
I think the selection committee will reward Crean for his wins against Top 10 teams

[mexicobufan]

My guess is that Bradley does not get in...........

[Tulsa Brave]

Marquette, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, and LSU are 5 BCS teams on that list that are definitely not getting in without doing some major damage the rest of the way. 36 at-large teams are getting in. If you don't think any of those you listed are getting in, then let's see your list of 36. I don't think you can find 36 others who should be in over some of those on your list...

[Da Coach]

Marquette, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, and LSU are 5 BCS teams on that list that are definitely not getting in without doing some major damage the rest of the way. 36 at-large teams are getting in. If you don't think any of those you listed are getting in, then let's see your list of 36. I don't think you can find 36 others who should be in over some of those on your list...

As is the case every year, a lot depends on how many conference favorites are upset in their tournaments by teams that would otherwise have no chance of getting an at-large bid. For every one of those upsets, one of the other at-large bubble teams falls off.

[Tulsa Brave]

As is the case every year, a lot depends on how many conference favorites are upset in their tournaments by teams that would otherwise have no chance of getting an at-large bid. For every one of those upsets, one of the other at-large bubble teams falls off.

This is true. You can count on at least a couple slots being lost due to this most seasons.

[Buesch N Chips]

lots of people like to act like experts and give "bracketology" or their guesses as to who's in and who's out - although every day or two they reshuffle their predictions - meaning they admit they know little and are no more accurate than anyone else who guesses.

it's a little like telling us who is leading in a horse race on the back stretch long ebfore the race is over....it doesn't mean much because teams will move on and off the "bubble"..

anyway - here's a compilation of many teams that people are currently saying are on or near the bubble...

Marquette RPI 71
Indiana RPI 87 -- seriously an 87 RPI but they have beaten some key teams with their home court advantage - and they are Indiana
St. John's RPI 61
Florida State RPI 55 11 losses and 7-8 in league
Southern Miss RPI 35 but really SOFT schedule (SOS 139)
Stanford RPI 42 but 3rd in Pac-12
Oklahoma State RPI 48 but some losses happened when their best player was out
Xavier RPI 46 but they're the 3rd best team in the media-darling Big East Conference
Dayton RPI 56 but 7th best team in A-10
St. Joe's RPI 33 but four mteams in A-10 have better RPI - ?odd man out?
Baylor RPI 41 and ten losses but their SOS is top ten
BYU RPI 34 but a lot of bad losses (Marymount, Portland, Pacific)
Oregon RPI 32 but only 7-8 in Pac-12
Tennessee RPI 50 but some key wins on national TV
Mizzou RPI 47 19-9 with SOS 66
Nebraska RPI 51 - but who is much better in the Big Ten?
Gonzaga RPI 28 but not a lot of key wins
Pitt RPI 45
Minnesota RPI 44 but 7-8 in Big Ten
Richmond RPI 54 but 6th best team in A-10
Cal RPI 49
LSU RPI 67 but...again - they will get the nod over lots of teams with better RPI's
Colorado RPI 26 but could be 6th seed in Pac-12
Indiana State RPI 62 - gotta think they're really a long shot
Kansas State RPI 36 & strong SOS
SMU RPI 37 but weak SOS (120)
George Washington RPI 30 but 8-5 in their own conference (A-10)
Toledo RPI 39 & 22-5 but seriously - they are from a very weak MAC and they had better win their auto-bid
North Dakota State RPI 40 and ditto - same as Toledo


My prediction is almost every team in this list that's a BCS conference team will get in - and if they have to they will use "the eye test" or some other silly argument

Good God you have a lot of time on your hands.

[tornado]

Several bubble teams lost last night

Xavier lost to 6-11 Seton Hall
Pitt lost to 8-9 NC State
K-State lost to 8-9 Ok State

NC Central isn't in anyone's discussion but they just won their 16th straight to go 24-5
They have also beaten NC State and played Wichita State closer than most teams have, but their RPI is over 100 so they won't have a chance without winning their league.

[tornado]

On the other end of the spectrum are the teams whose seasons are now over...
Nebraska-Omaha (the like to call themselves "Omaha") are done - they do not qualify for the Summit League Tournament and so they have officially ended their 2013-14 season 16-14 and 5-9 in the conference
Too bad they lost their last game in OT 96-95 to IPFW - or they could have bragged that they were one of the few teams who end their season with a victory

BTW - some Conference Tournament action begins tonight..
The A-Sun, Horizon, and Patriot all have already begun their conference tourneys...two Patriot teams are already done & eliminated...