Big games in the Big Ten and West Coast Conference headline Thursday's schedule of games involving bubble teams. And there were some interesting results for NCAA Tournament hopefuls Wednesday so let's break those down.
- Rutgers did it again! The Scarlet Knights knocked off their fourth straight Top 25 team on Wednesday, beating Illinois 70-59 at home. Rutgers now has six Quad 1 wins, but with six of their nine losses outside of Quad 1. The Scarlet Knights are in Thursday's updated bracket as a No. 11 seed. Next up for them is a visit to Mackey Arena to face Purdue.
- North Carolina shot itself in the foot last night, losing at home to Pitt. Before last night, the best thing you could say about the Tar Heels' tournament résumé was that it had no bad losses. The wheels are close to falling off the wagon for UNC, which is still on Bubble Watch but has work to do.
- SMU finds itself in the First Four of the updated bracket after a loss at Temple. The Mustangs have four of their last five at home and need to take advantage of that schedule.
Check out all the teams on Palm's Bubble Watch, the field of the 68 and the entire bracket on the Bracketology hub
Here are the bubble teams in action on Thursday. All times Eastern
Thursday's "Double bubble" game
Michigan at Iowa
7 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free)
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| Both of these teams are right around the cutline of the bracket, so this could be huge when selections roll around. For Michigan, this would be a road win over a team the Wolverines are competing with for a spot in the field. It would also put them back to four games above .500, which has been a minimum standard for selection, albeit an unwritten one. | |
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| The Hawkeyes have a great NET ranking, but not much behind it. Their best win and only one over a team anywhere near the bracket came at home to Indiana. A win over the Wolverines tonight would be comparable, but not demonstrably better. Those chances are ahead. | |
Other bubble teams in action
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| vs. Austin Peay, 7 p.m. | ESPNU, fuboTV (Try for free) -- The 21st-ranked Racers are getting some TV time tonight. They have been the dominant team in the Ohio Valley Conference this season and only have two losses overall. Unfortunately, one is to East Tennessee State, which is a Quad 3 loss. They have nice wins at Memphis and Belmont, and that win over the Tigers is looking better every day. The only team Murray State can afford to lose to in this league is Belmont, which the Racers host on Feb. 24. | |
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| at Arizona State, 9 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) -- The Ducks are in the First Four, so every game counts for them. Arizona State is having a rough season, but they have been dangerous at times, beating UCLA at home and winning the first matchup with Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. The Ducks cannot afford to get caught looking ahead to the three big games ahead of them. | |
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| at Saint Mary's, 10 p.m. -- The Dons are looking to pick up the second-best road win possible in the West Coast Conference. Saint Mary's is a middle of the bracket team that has had a very good season and looks to be solidly in the field. This is the second of three straight on the road for USF. In fact, the Dons' only home game left is against No. 1 seed Gonzaga. | |
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| at DePaul, 10 p.m. | CBS Sports Network -- The Blue Jays are the seventh Big East team in the field and a double-digit seed. They do not have a very good record against the better teams on their schedule, but only have one bad loss so far, which came at home to Arizona State. DePaul has been feisty of late, having taken Providence to overtime recently. | |
