Bubble Teams To Watch: 2/24/2010

• Azubuike24

  

  Instead of just listing games, here's a look at the teams with a lot to play for tomorrow. I'm going to stick to the teams with very tough games. The teams at the bottom SHOULD win their games, but they are also in must-win situations.
  
  TOUGH BUBBLE GAMES
  
  Dayton (at 20 Temple) - The Flyers are 18-8, 7-5 in the A-10, and currently 7th in the league. The bad news is, their schedule is brutal as they still play at Temple, at Richmond and host St. Louis. The good news is, they can play their way with quality wins available.
  
  Notre Dame (vs 12 Pittsburgh) - The Irish are still without Luke Harangody, and at 17-10 and 6-8 in the league, they must win against the Panthers at home to stay in the NCAA hunt. Like Dayton, the schedule is tough with Pittsburgh, at Georgetown, vs Connecticut and at Marquette. Unlikely the Irish will even be on the bubble after the weekend.
  
  Marquette (at St. John's) - The Golden Eagles are in good shape, but quietly St. John's has been a bubble team killer lately as they have beaten Louisville, Cincinnati and Notre Dame of late. Marquette also has to go to Seton Hall and then they finish hosting Notre Dame and Louisville. They are likely in if they split their final 2.
  
  St. Louis (vs Xavier) - Xavier is likely in, so the game is big for them, but it's huge for St. Louis. They are 18-8, 9-3 in the league and winners of 6 straight. 3 of their final 4 are at home, but 2 are against Xavier and Temple, and then they travel to Dayton for the final league game of the year. Most likely, they have to split these 4, and one of them being a win over either Xavier or Temple.
  
  Wichita State (at Bradley) - The Shockers haven't been able to take advantage of some recent opportunities to build their resume losing at Northern Iowa and at Utah State. Bradley is a tough opponent, especially at home, and Wichita, at 22-7, probably needs to win their final 2 and then get to the Missouri Valley finals to have any chance at an at-large.
  
  Minnesota (vs 4 Purdue) - Minnesota was buried 2 weeks ago, but they have gotten to 7-7 in the Big Ten, and they face Purdue and go to Illinois this week. Their final 2 games are at Michigan and vs Iowa, which they should have a great chance to win, but it looks like they have to win one of the next 2 to stay in the hunt.
  
  Oklahoma State (at 21 Texas) - The Cowboys look like they are in great shape at 7-5 in the Big 12, but they play Texas, host Kansas, go to Texas A&M and finish vs Nebraska. They could easily finish 8-8 and in big trouble if they don't win 1 of those 3 against the remaining ranked opponents.
  
  San Diego State (at 13 BYU) - SDSU is 9-4 in the MWC, have won 4 in a row and are now right smack dab on the bubble. They have 3 remaining games, 2 are winnable vs Colorado State and at Air Force, but a win at BYU would really keep them rolling and could possibly lead to a 12-4 finish and a great position heading into the MWC Tournament.
  
  South Florida (at 7 Villanova) - USF has struggled a lot lately, and at 16-10, 6-8, they are off the NCAA radar right now. With that said, if they could manage to win at Nova, they end with Providence, at DePaul and vs Connecticut. Winning 3 of 4, especially if one of those is over Nova, would give them a chance.
  
  BUBBLE TEAMS THAT SHOULD WIN
  
  Cincinnati (vs DePaul)
  UAB (at Central Florida)
  Charlotte (vs St. Joseph's)
  Mississippi (vs Auburn)
  Memphis (at Houston)
  Mississippi State (vs Alabama)
  UNLV (vs TCU)
• gorocks99

  

  Minnesota is tough at home, blasting Wisconsin recently, beating Ohio State, and taking MSU to the wire. I hope they keep it as close vs Purdue and give themselves a chance. Win tonight, win their last two, the committee would have a tough time keeping a 10-8 Big Ten team with wins over probably three top-ten opponents (Butler, OSU, Purdue) out of the tournament.
• Prescott

  A capsule look at some bubble teams.
  
  http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/andy_glockner/02/22/bubble-watch/index.html
• centralbucksfan

  gorocks99 wrote: Minnesota is tough at home, blasting Wisconsin recently, beating Ohio State, and taking MSU to the wire. I hope they keep it as close vs Purdue and give themselves a chance. Win tonight, win their last two, the committee would have a tough time keeping a 10-8 Big Ten team with wins over probably three top-ten opponents (Butler, OSU, Purdue) out of the tournament.

  I agree. I am hopeful and wouldn't be shocked to see Minny beat Purdue. That would also help OSU tie for top spot.
  That being said, Purdue is playing very well and I think the win in close game. But Minny needs it...
• ironman02

  Temple was leading Dayton 19-13 at the half. I would be willing to bet that might be the worst game a basketball fan has ever watched.
  
  27-22 Owls now.
• ironman02

  Not one of the games on the list, but BC has a double digit lead on Va Tech in the 1st half. Va Tech has an awful OOC schedule, so a loss to BC could hurt them if they falter down the stretch.
• Azubuike24

  

  VT is in unless they have an epic collapse. This game to BC would definitely be a start to that.
  
  Temple is about to really put a hurting on Dayton. The Flyers have 30 points with under 4 minutes left. Pathetic.
  
  UAB with a slim lead over UCF, mid-2nd half.
  
  Florida State is killing UNC and Cincinnati is rolling over DePaul.
  
  Notre Dame really taking it to Pittsburgh, quite surprising here.
  
  St. John's making it difficult with an early lead on Marquette, while Charlotte is really smoking St. Joe's early.
• reclegend22

  

  ironman02 wrote:Temple was leading Dayton 19-13 at the half. I would be willing to bet that might be the worst game a basketball fan has ever watched.

  You must not have been in the Schott to see the South Webster Jeeps lead Paul Wayne's fun-n-gun Holgate Tigers 2-0 at the end of one in the state semis in '04.
  
  I'm not even sure the ball was bounced in the first half of that "game."
• CinciX12

  

  Temple scores 49?!? Jesus I can't wait to prove that was a fluke.
  
  Xavier ends St. Louis' NCAA hopes tonight, unless they win the A10 tournament.
• Azubuike24

  

  CinciX12 wrote: Temple scores 49?!? Jesus I can't wait to prove that was a fluke.
  
  Xavier ends St. Louis' NCAA hopes tonight, unless they win the A10 tournament.

  Not quite yet. If they beat Duquesne, Temple and win at Dayton, they would be in.
• ohiotiger33

  

  Clemson/Maryland in a shootout right now: 59-53 Clemson, with over 14 minutes left.
• Azubuike24

  

  Final Scores:
  Temple 49, Dayton 41
  UAB 53, UCF 49
  Florida State 77, North Carolina 67
  Cincinnati 74, DePaul 69
  Boston College 80, Virginia Tech 60
  Notre Dame 68, Pittsburgh 53
  Marquette 63, St. John's 61 - OT
  Missouri 92, Colorado 63
  Charlotte 95, St. Joseph's 58
  UTEP 59, Southern Miss 56
  Xavier 73, St. Louis 71
  Houston 92, Memphis 75
  Mississippi 85, Auburn 75
  Bradley 75, Wichita State 73
  Purdue 59, Minnesota 58
  Mississippi State 74, Alabama 66
  Villanova 74, South Florida 49
  Maryland 88, Clemson 79
  BYU 82, San Diego State 68
  Texas 69, Oklahoma State 59
  Baylor 70, Texas A&M 66
• CinciX12

  

  The 8th grade girls tournament I officiated over the weekend had higher scoring games then Temple and Dayton. You expect it from Dayton, but a nationally ranked team to score that and win? I'd be curious to see if thats the lowest point total for a win when a team is ranked.
• Mulva

  

  Murray State lost to Morehead State tonight. I don't see any way they get an at large. They don't have a single win that would even be considered decent on the resume. Their only shot was running the table in conference.
• Azubuike24

  

  Yep, after losing to Morehead they have to win the OVC. The tourney is in Nashville the week before the SEC Tourney, so I don't see any home cooking for them. However, they are much better than the rest of the OVC, outside of Austin Peay on a neutral floor I think.
• sportswizuhrd

  CinciX12 wrote: The 8th grade girls tournament I officiated over the weekend had higher scoring games then Temple and Dayton. You expect it from Dayton, but a nationally ranked team to score that and win? I'd be curious to see if thats the lowest point total for a win when a team is ranked.

  They lost to Georgetown 46-45 and beat Penn State 45-42. PSU definitely wasn't ranked but Georgetown had to be. 13-0 when they score 70 or more points as well.