As we’ve been doing our ACC bubble analysis each week, I’m still contending that that ACC should get at least 5 NCAA bids and possibly 6 due to a very weak group of bubble teams. Is it likely?
I would say the chances are not high, that a team beyond Duke, NC State, Miami, Maryland, UNC gets in, but there is some chance. Let’s examine some of the teams on the bubble.
We’ll go with the last teams in and out of the CBS’s Bracketology, and you can click on the teams for their resume.
Best wins are UC Santa Barbara and Dayton…. ouch.
The Sooners have a good RPI, but they don’t own a top 50 win.
The Hawkeyes don’t have a good RPI, and they don’t own a top 50 win. That is the double whammy. There’s also a loss to a sinking Virginia Tech team. They do have a win over fellow bubble team Iowa St.
The cyclones have a decent win over BYU, and that’s pretty much it.
Best win is over something called CSU Northridge. There are losses to Iowa St. and Florida State. Those two teams may compete with BYU for an NCAA bid.
The Heels picked up a huge Saturday against UNLV. That doesn’t make them a lock, but they’d be safely in if selections were today.
I like the wins over Baylor and Illinois St., but playing the brutal Big 10 will probably keep Northwestern out of the discussion come March.
South Dakota St. (7-4, RPI 81)
The one win over New Mexico must carry a lot of weight, because I don’t see why SDSU is even near the bubble. There’s a loss to Hofstra… Hofstra!
The Sycamores have a couple of solid wins over Miami and Ole Miss, which negates a bad loss to Morehead St. There aren’t other bad losses. Actually Indiana St’s resume isn’t half bad.
I’m pretty sure CBS got confused by putting Lehigh anywhere close to the bubble. They must have thought the win over Duke was this year.
See what I’m talking about. This is an extremely weak year in the bubble. Several of the bubble teams don’t have any marquee wins, and there are ugly losses all over.
