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Richmond’s bubble has already popped, but there’s more to come today

Games started before I woke up and they’re going to be rolling when most people hit the rack. March!

By Joel D
Thaw in the Harz Mountains
Getty has a lot of pictures of bubbles.
Photo by Lino Mirgeler/picture alliance via Getty Images

We weren’t overloaded with bubble games last night, so let’s jump right in. Wichita State won a game they couldn’t lose over Tulane, keeping their at-large hopes alive with an unconvincing but effective effort. UConn used an 18-2 run that straddled the half to take control of the game against Seton Hall and push the Pirates down (and maybe off of) the bubble. If Stanford is interested in making the tournament, it didn’t show last night against USC. The Cardinal opened the game by scoring 6 points in the first 15 minutes and lost 79-42. They aren’t getting an at-large bid and should probably just fold the program.

As the title suggests, Richmond spit the bit against Duquense today. The Spiders led by as many as 14 and were up 8 with 7 to play, but they gave up a 14-2 run in 3 minutes and never got back on top of the game. As this was an A10 tournament game, their chances for at-large and automatic consideration evaporated in one fell swoop.

Here are the rest of the day’s games that have tournament implications.

Vanderbilt at Cincinnati, 7pm, ESPN+

Just kidding.

Michigan State at Michigan, 7pm, ESPN

Sparty was done and dusted a month ago, but winning 6 of 9 in a tough league has them charging back into consideration. A win at Michigan would be as good a top line of a resume as you’ll find on the bubble. Losing this one wouldn’t be a bad loss, but it’s not clear they can absorb any losses at all right now. Weirdly, they’ll play the return leg of this one on Sunday.

Wyoming at Utah State, 10:30pm, FS1

Utah State is still showing up in some brackets, so I’ll include them here. They have 2 Q3 losses and are just 3-5 in Q1/2 games. I’m not a bracketologist, but I’d have to imagine a loss here is it for the Aggies.

There are six conference tournaments currently ongoing, with the A10 tipping the first game at noon and the WCC nightcap tipping at midnight (eastern; it’s at a regular time in the time zone where the game is being played). We’re in the stretch run.