Bubble Watch

AS OF FEBRUARY 11, 2010

Bubble Breakdown and Comparison (My picks in italics)

Welcome to the first complete Bubble Watch of the season. As the name would suggest, it will look at every team in the at-large mix hoping to grab one of the last spots for the NCAA Tournament. As the season enters its final couple of weeks, it is time for teams on the fence to distinguish themselves from each other with impressive stretch runs. This week has seen plenty of bubble teams help out their resumes with statement-making wins, while other teams have hurt their status with tough losses. However, with the constant bubble fluctuation on a nightly basis, many teams are failing to separate themselves from the pack, meaning we might be in store for another difficult Selection Sunday for the Committee. Of course, there is still plenty of basketball left to be played. According to the numbers, there are 16 bids still up for grabs, with 33 teams seriously vying for them:

Locks: 19
Automatic bids from the other conferences: 23
42 Locks Overall

• ACC (1): Duke
  
• Big East (4): Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown, West Virginia
  
• Big Ten (4): Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Ohio State
  
• Big 12 (3): Kansas, Kansas State, Texas
  
• SEC (3): Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee
  
• Atlantic-10 (1): Temple
  
• Mountain West (2): BYU, New Mexico
  
• West Coast (1): Gonzaga
  

One-Bid Conferences (23): America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Conference-USA, Horizon, Ivy, MAC, MAAC, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Pac-10, Southern, Southland, Summit, Sun Belt, SWAC, WAC

Teams that need to keep winning to avoid the bubble – these bids are not up for grabs yet (7): Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, Baylor, Missouri, UNLV

Note: California, Utah State, UTEP, Siena, Cornell, Northern Iowa are not included, as they are the current leaders in their respective conferences.