There were only two bubble games on Tuesday night, but they shook up the bottom of the bracket.
Michigan is back to four games above .500 after beating Michigan State in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines are back in the bracket today, but they will have to keep winning to stay there. They host Iowa next, followed by a trip to Ohio State in the regular-season finale.
VCU also joins the bracket as the last team in following a 74-51 mashing of St. Bonaventure. Those two teams traded home blowouts this season. The Rams are far from secure and could use a higher-quality win, but the A-10 does not have anyone in the league to provide that opportunity. VCU split its two games with Davidson, the best team in the A-10, and that win on the road is still the Rams' best of the season.
The Bonnies have fallen off the bubble for now.
Wake Forest and North Carolina have dropped back off the bracket, as both teams are lacking in quality wins. The Demon Deacons are trying to make up for a poor schedule, while the Tar Heels have proven to be unable to beat most tournament-quality opposition. There will still be chances ahead for each of these teams. In fact, Wake Forest is in action tonight.
Indiana is also on tonight's schedule, along with two Big East bubblers.
Note – all references to NCAA tournament selection records and trends refer only to pre-pandemic tournaments. Due to shortened schedules and a relatively small number of non-conference games in 2021, those rankings were not reliable enough to be considered.
Here are the "last four in" and "first four out" followed by the bubble teams in action Wednesday. All times Eastern
Last Four In | Record | NET |
17-9 | 41 | |
Michigan | 16-12 | 32 |
19-11 | 51 | |
VCU | 21-7 | 49 |
First Four Out | Record | NET |
Wake Forest | 22-8 | 42 |
North Carolina | 22-8 | 40 |
18-11 | 58 | |
Indiana | 18-10 | 43 |
Check out all the teams on Palm's Bubble Watch, the field of the 68 and the entire bracket on the Bracketology hub
Bubble teams in action
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| at St. John's,6:30 p.m. | FS1, fuboTV (Try for free): Xavier has played its way onto the bubble with six losses in its last seven games. The Musketeers are also one win from coming off, so beating the Johnnies would restore some faith in Xavier. | |
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| vs. Rutgers, 7 p.m. | BTN fuboTV (Try for free): A couple of weeks ago, this would have been a "double bubble" game, but Rutgers has fallen off the pace with three straight losses after that celebrated four-game win streak. Indiana is the story here, however. The Hoosiers need to keep defending their home floor, in part because they are not particularly good away from home, but also because their next game is at what figures to be an angry Purdue. | |
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| vs. George Mason, 7 p.m.: Davidson is close to coming off the bubble. The Wildcats simply need to avoid a bad loss -- which this would be. They finish at Dayton, where a loss would not be as damaging. | |
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| vs. No. 18 UConn, 8:30 p.m. | FS1 fuboTV (Try for free): Creighton was cruising along fine until star freshman guard Ryan Nembhard got hurt. Now, the Blue Jays have to prove themselves as a tournament-caliber team to the committee once again. Home games with UConn and Seton Hall are left, and those are great chances to do just that. | |
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| at Boston College, 9 p.m.: Miami is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. Will it be the team that lost at home to Virginia, Florida State and UCF? Or will it be the one that won at Duke, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest? The Canes actually have a better record away from at home than at home, so maybe this game is in their wheelhouse. It needs to be. | |
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| vs. NC State, 9 p.m.: Wake Forest is going to have to wait for the ACC Tournament to get the chances it needs to overcome the negatives on its resume. Chief among them is a lack of quality wins, especially away from home. The Demon Deacons' strength of schedule is pretty bad as well, but that is not fixable. Meanwhile, they have to win this game just to stay in the hunt. | |
