- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 366,138
- Reaction score
- 43
After a day where some teams strengthened or hurt their NCAA Tournament cases, Thursday presents another opportunity for those fighting to secure a spot in March Madness.
The NCAA Tournament picture could drastically shift by the end of the night as three of the last teams in and all teams in the first four out in the recent USA TODAY Sports Bracketology will be in action. Moves are already happening since Ohio State − once a projected First Four participant − suffered a dreadful loss to Iowa Wednesday, essentially opening a spot for a team on the outside.
Teams on the bubble of the USA TODAY Sports Bracketology are either trying to build upon their case after winning on Wednesday or starting their conference tournament journeys in hopes of keeping pace. Bid stealers could be happening soon, meaning every additional win is essential to ensure teams don't get left out of the field. Here's a tracker of bubble teams playing today and how those games will chance the NCAA Tournament outlook.
BRACKETOLOGY: Race for No. 1 seeds, bubble spots heats up
TOURNAMENT PREVIEWS: SEC | Big Ten | ACC | Big 12 | Big East
The late season surge by the Hoosiers may have gone to waste after a one-and-done appearance in the Big Ten tournament, losing to Oregon for the second time in 10 days. It was almost deja vu in how Indiana lost: The game was close until the Ducks went on a run it couldn't match. Indiana made it a two-point game with seven minutes left but went cold after that, missing six consecutive shots and going on a five minute scoring drought while Oregon went on a 9-0 run that put the game out of reach.
Thanks to an impressive recent run, Indiana played itself into one of the last teams in the field, but the spot was far from secured, given the resume wasn't great. It never suffered anything outside a Quad 1 loss, but a 4-12 mark in the category isn't the look of a tournament team, and the No. 52 NET ranking was the worse among at-large teams. Even with a string of wins, Indiana needed more in Indianapolis. Instead Mike Woodson's tenure likely will end without a March Madness bid.
Based on the first half, it looked like Xavier was going to continue its hot streak toward an NCAA Tournament spot. However, Marquette had a dazzling second half performance and overcame a double-digit deficit for a thrilling 89-87 win that really hurt Xavier's tournament chances. The Musketeers were on fire and up by 14 points early in the second half, but Marquette woke up and was constantly hitting 3-pointers for multiple runs to make it a game. It was tied with three minutes to go but the Golden Eagles offense was relentless to pull off the comeback; it shot 61.3% in the final 20 minutes and the 38 points from Xavier's Ryan Conwell weren't enough.
Xavier entered the day with seven consecutive wins, but the reason why it didn't make it out of the First Four area was because none of the victories helped the Quad 1 record. At 1-8 in the category, it desperately needed another one to help the resume. While it was a valiant effort against Marquette that proved the Musketeers are playing like a tournament team, the lack of notable wins is what's killing its tournament chances. It's a grim outlook for Xavier right now as it could be another team moving out of the field.
It was far from pretty and often concerning, but North Carolina kept its tournament hopes alive in a necessary win over Wake Forest to advance to the ACC tournament semifinal. The Tar Heels fell in an early hole they eventually climbed out of, and the Demon Deacons never quit, even leading with six minutes left. However Wake Forest went cold and North Carolina capitalized by ending the game on a 14-3 run for the nine-point victory.
North Carolina doesn't have any impressive wins this week, but thanks to some last four teams in losing, the Tar Heels are reaping the benefits and finding themselves in the field. Still, it's hard to ignore the 1-11 Quad 1 record and a signature victory is needed to end the doubt. Luckily one awaits the Tar Heels on Friday with the third matchup of the season against Duke, which they nearly beat on Saturday. What makes it even more compelling is Cooper Flagg likely won't play after suffering an injury on Thursday. If North Carolina can capitalize and pull off the upset, it may be enough to make the tournament.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA Tournament bubble tracker: Teams help, hurt March Madness chase
Continue reading...
The NCAA Tournament picture could drastically shift by the end of the night as three of the last teams in and all teams in the first four out in the recent USA TODAY Sports Bracketology will be in action. Moves are already happening since Ohio State − once a projected First Four participant − suffered a dreadful loss to Iowa Wednesday, essentially opening a spot for a team on the outside.
Teams on the bubble of the USA TODAY Sports Bracketology are either trying to build upon their case after winning on Wednesday or starting their conference tournament journeys in hopes of keeping pace. Bid stealers could be happening soon, meaning every additional win is essential to ensure teams don't get left out of the field. Here's a tracker of bubble teams playing today and how those games will chance the NCAA Tournament outlook.
BRACKETOLOGY: Race for No. 1 seeds, bubble spots heats up
TOURNAMENT PREVIEWS: SEC | Big Ten | ACC | Big 12 | Big East
Indiana falls apart against Oregon
The late season surge by the Hoosiers may have gone to waste after a one-and-done appearance in the Big Ten tournament, losing to Oregon for the second time in 10 days. It was almost deja vu in how Indiana lost: The game was close until the Ducks went on a run it couldn't match. Indiana made it a two-point game with seven minutes left but went cold after that, missing six consecutive shots and going on a five minute scoring drought while Oregon went on a 9-0 run that put the game out of reach.
Thanks to an impressive recent run, Indiana played itself into one of the last teams in the field, but the spot was far from secured, given the resume wasn't great. It never suffered anything outside a Quad 1 loss, but a 4-12 mark in the category isn't the look of a tournament team, and the No. 52 NET ranking was the worse among at-large teams. Even with a string of wins, Indiana needed more in Indianapolis. Instead Mike Woodson's tenure likely will end without a March Madness bid.
Xavier misses out on second Quad 1 victory
Based on the first half, it looked like Xavier was going to continue its hot streak toward an NCAA Tournament spot. However, Marquette had a dazzling second half performance and overcame a double-digit deficit for a thrilling 89-87 win that really hurt Xavier's tournament chances. The Musketeers were on fire and up by 14 points early in the second half, but Marquette woke up and was constantly hitting 3-pointers for multiple runs to make it a game. It was tied with three minutes to go but the Golden Eagles offense was relentless to pull off the comeback; it shot 61.3% in the final 20 minutes and the 38 points from Xavier's Ryan Conwell weren't enough.
Xavier entered the day with seven consecutive wins, but the reason why it didn't make it out of the First Four area was because none of the victories helped the Quad 1 record. At 1-8 in the category, it desperately needed another one to help the resume. While it was a valiant effort against Marquette that proved the Musketeers are playing like a tournament team, the lack of notable wins is what's killing its tournament chances. It's a grim outlook for Xavier right now as it could be another team moving out of the field.
North Carolina survives, sets up pivotal rematch with Duke
It was far from pretty and often concerning, but North Carolina kept its tournament hopes alive in a necessary win over Wake Forest to advance to the ACC tournament semifinal. The Tar Heels fell in an early hole they eventually climbed out of, and the Demon Deacons never quit, even leading with six minutes left. However Wake Forest went cold and North Carolina capitalized by ending the game on a 14-3 run for the nine-point victory.
North Carolina doesn't have any impressive wins this week, but thanks to some last four teams in losing, the Tar Heels are reaping the benefits and finding themselves in the field. Still, it's hard to ignore the 1-11 Quad 1 record and a signature victory is needed to end the doubt. Luckily one awaits the Tar Heels on Friday with the third matchup of the season against Duke, which they nearly beat on Saturday. What makes it even more compelling is Cooper Flagg likely won't play after suffering an injury on Thursday. If North Carolina can capitalize and pull off the upset, it may be enough to make the tournament.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA Tournament bubble tracker: Teams help, hurt March Madness chase
Continue reading...
