clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Bubble winners and losers abounded March 1; North Carolina State has the stage to itself today

The Wolfpack is still within striking distance of an at-large bid, but they have a big challenge in front of them tonight.

By Joel D
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: MAR 01 Colorado at Stanford
These guys snagged a big bubble win last night.
Photo by Cody Glenn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

We'll get to today's game momentarily, but let's get caught up from a big Sunday in bubble action first.

Winners

Xavier. Despite what you might have read (in the comments section on this very site), Q1 road wins are actually important. X picked up a big one at Georgetown as their surge towards safety is close to crossing the finish line.

Wichita State. Holy cow. All but dead and buried in a must-not-lose game against Southern Methodist, the Shockers overturned a 24-point deficit with 15 minutes to play to stun SMU and stay alive. If they get an at-large bid, their fans will look back at this as a legendary performance.

Stanford. Colorado had their chances to take this one, at one point cutting it to 3 late in the second half, but the Cardinal held on for a vital win. They still have work to do to feel safe.

Losers

Cincinnati. The Bearcats' last chance for a good win went by the boards against Houston, as they gave up a 20-3 straddling the half to bury the game and then another 14-2 late on to drive the point home. With Q2 at USF and Q3 home to Temple left, you wonder if there's enough there for UC to make hay.

URI. They lost to Saint Louis. While that's not crippling in and of itself, it leaves them with a game against Dayton that they probably won't win and a game against UMass that probably won't help before the A10 tournament. Eesh.

Indiana. Their loss to Illinois probably doesn't matter, but they'd be playing for seeding if they had won that.

There's only one bubble game today, unless you think Texas Tech can still fall out (which I guess is possible). I don't at this point, so here's what to watch on a slow Monday.

NC State (first 4 out) @ Duke, 7pm, ESPN

After yesterday's shuffling of the deck, NC State has a chance to jump a lot of teams if they can pull off one of the most impressive wins a bubble team has available. Duke is obviously a Q1 opponent; NC State has a tall order in front of them, but snagging this win would be an incredible boost.

Happy watching! We'll do this again tomorrow and indeed every day before Selection Sunday, so check back often.