The bubble action switches to the Big 12 on Monday.  First though, a quick review of Sunday's action, which saw the Big Ten find a way to get an 11th team into the bracket for now, and the American Athletic Conference's slide continuing.

  • Houston defeated Wichita State 76-46 in a double-bubble game: Houston is not completely safe with almost five weeks to go, but the Cougars are not far from it. Wichita State is in trouble though.  That is the Shockers fifth loss in seven games and a pretty emphatic one at that. I know that is a good opponent on the road, but a 30-point drubbing is going to leave an ugly stain on their tournament resume.
  • Cincinnati lost to UConn 72-71 in overtime: The Bearcats may have found their way into the bracket with a win given how bad most of the teams near the cut line played this weekend, but instead, they joined the party.
  • Wisconsin defeated Ohio State 70-57:  Wisconsin had an easy time with the Buckeyes to move the Badgers' record to 14-10.  They are not showing any signs of missing Kobe King, who was the team's second leading scorer when he left the program about two weeks ago. Wisconsin is at Nebraska next, followed by four out of five at home. The Badgers are poised to make a run.
  • Rutgers defeated Northwestern 77-73 on overtime: The Scarlet Knights avoided disaster by coming from 18 points down to beat Northwestern in overtime.  In order to truly feel comfortable about its place in the bracket, Rutgers will have to find a way to win away from home.

There are only two games with bubble teams and they are going in opposite directions. Those directions were indicated in the result of the game between the two teams on Saturday.

Monday's bubble teams in action


Texas Tech
vs. TCU, 9 p.m. (ESPN2)

The Red Raiders are trying to build a run of consistently good play after losing three out of four, a stretch with started with a loss at TCU on Jan. 21. They are off to a good start, having beaten Oklahoma and Texas and are now looking to exact some revenge on the Horned Frogs.

Texas
vs. Baylor, 9 p.m. (ESPN)

This is a great opportunity for a resume building win, to say the least. No. 1 in the nation is coming to Austin as the Longhorns look for a statement win. They may be shorthanded though as forward Kai Jones and guard Jase Febres left the Texas Tech game with injures and did not return.