Friday's Bubble Tracker: Cal still has work to do after losing to Stanford

VCU avoids loss that could have been a bracket killer for the Rams.

A couple of teams at he bottom half of the bracket -- California and VCU -- had important road games against their biggest rivals on Friday night. 

The Rams can breathe a little easier, but the Bears get squeezed even tighter.

Bubble teams in action Friday

Cal Golden Bears

Stanford 73, Cal 68

The Bears took a tough loss on the road to their rival from the Bay Area. Stanford is comfortably in the top 100, so it is not considered a bad loss, but the win would have been nice to have for Cal. The Bears still have some tough games ahead, so they cannot be complacent.

VCU Rams

VCU 84, Richmond 73

The Rams did what they set out to do against the Spiders. The win gives VCU sole possession of first place in the Atlantic 10, at least until Dayton plays Saturday.  From a tournament perspective, the win doesn’t do much for VCU except prevent a bad loss.