With over four weeks to go in the regular season, the bubble is still pretty large and typically fluid. One game can swing a team in or out of the current bracket, and moving forward we'll be tracking each night's games with bubble implications. Here's what happened Wednesday night, detailing what each bubble team did for its résumé.
March is coming!
Baylor 72 at Oklahoma State 69
The Cowboys came up just short of the kind of win that could have taken them off the bubble. The loss dropped Oklahoma State to 4-7 in the Big 12 and 3-8 against the RPI top 50. Neither of those is great, but the committee considers more than a team's conference record. The Cowboys will get a few more chances at fellow Big 12 bubblers and will end the season against Kansas in Stillwater.
Virginia Tech 68 at Miami 74
Miami picked up its second top-50 victory tonight by beating the Hokies. The Hurricanes have a decent record, but played a poor nonconference schedule. That is why they have to do reasonably well in league play. It is their only chance to pick up the kind of victories that will impress the committee. There are no easy games left, and Miami still needs to do well.
Cal 68 at Arizona State 43
The Bears are going to finish the regular season with five games out of seven on the road. This was the first and easiest of those road games, so it's a good sign for Cal that it came away with the victory. The Bears are going to get a chance to play their way into the field in these final few weeks, but there is also the chance they could play their way out. That chance lessened with this win.
Providence 70 at Seton Hall 72, OT
It looked Seton Hall was going to give this one away, but they did just enough to come away with the victory. A home loss to the Friars would have been damaging to the Pirates' at-large hopes. Providence isn't bad, but it's not a tournament team either. This was a taking-care-of-business game for the Hall, and ultimately, it did.
Rutgers 64 at Ohio State 70
It wasn't pretty, but the Buckeyes did what they needed to do tonight. Now the real work starts. Ohio State will take to the road to face Maryland and Michigan State next, and both should be suitably desperate for a victory of any sort.
Mississippi 66 at Tennessee 75
Mississippi couldn't get it done again. The loss drops Ole Miss to 14-10 overall, including 2-8 vs. the RPI top 50 and 4-10 vs. the top 100. They have yet to beat a likely tournament team. Mississippi might need to win its last seven games to give themselves a chance at an at-large. They will be favored in most of them. Can they get in with less? Maybe, but why take the chance.
The Vols, meanwhile, added to their run of hot play. They have now won five out of six, including their two best victories of the season against Kentucky and Kansas State. Still, Tennessee is only 13-10, so they still have quite a bit of work to do, but they have a schedule that gives them a chance to do it.
VCU 54 at George Washington 53
Are you kidding me?? VCU is living a charmed life! First, the Rams get a opportunity to send the game with St. Bonaventure to overtime, where they ultimately won, because Bonnies fans stormed the court too soon and got a technical foul for it. Tonight, VCU gave up what appeared to be a game-winning 3-pointer, only to get fouled 94 feet from the basket trying to inbound with 0.4 seconds left. Two converted free throws, and VCU escapes again. You do what you gotta do on the road, but at some point, you figure their luck is going to run out.
Houston 91 at Tulane 62
Houston did what a tournament team does to the Tulanes of the world -- crush them. The Cougars have to get through another, slightly tougher road game before they get a shot at a quality victory against SMU.
UNLV 77 at Nevada 104
Nevada had an easy time with its in-state rival and avoided what would have been a fifth bad loss. That would certainly have been the end of the Wolf Pack's slim at-large hopes. Nevada is back in a tie for first with Boise State in the Mountain West.
