After a day off, the bubble is back in action Tuesday with four games, including one involving the last team in the bracket.
Monday was an off day for bubble teams, but there was still some movement on the projected bracket. TCU and Texas Tech switched seed lines following the Horned Frogs' 62-54 loss to Baylor. TCU dropped to as No. 7 seed and the Red Raiders moved up to a No. 6.
Also, Kansas State defeated West Virginia 94-90 in overtime, winning its seventh overtime game of the season. The MOV-based metrics like the NET and KenPom.com have been sour on the Wildcats all season, but it is hard to put up big margins when you need overtime for almost half of your wins. Kansas State doesn't quite measure up to a spot in the field and remains one of the "Next Four Out."
And congratulations to Mississippi Valley State, which defeated Prairie View A&M 57-51 and picked up its first win of the season. Now, there are no more winless teams in Division I.
Bubble teams in action Tuesday
| at Clemson, 7 p.m. | ACC Network, fuboTV (Try for free) -- Pitt does not have a great record against better teams but has wins at Duke and Virginia as well as a home victory over Wake Forest. The Panthers' biggest problem is a poor strength of schedule, one dragged down by a bottom 20 non-conference SOS. This is Pitt's last chance at a noteworthy win in the regular season. | |
| vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m. | ESPN , fuboTV (Try for free) -- The Bulldogs have a tough finishing schedule. After facing the Wildcats at home, Mississippi State faces Auburn and Texas A&M on the road before the end of the regular season at home against South Carolina. If not for a Quad 3 loss and Quad 4 loss, the Bulldogs would be comfortably in the field. This would not be a good time to start a losing streak though. | |
| at Texas Tech, 9 p.m. | ESPN, fuboTV (Try for free) -- Texas has played a good schedule but has not been up to the challenge. The Longhorns have played hit and miss basketball since conference play began and now sit just 8-10 against the top three quadrants. Temple in 2016 is the only team in thirty years to get an at-large bid two games below .500 against the top three quadrants. That was back before quadrants were called "quadrants." The Longhorns need to start getting more hits than misses. | |
| at Notre Dame, 9 p.m. | ACC Network, fuboTV (Try for free) -- Wake Forest got its best win of the season so far against Duke on Saturday, but the job isn't finished yet. The Demon Deacons cannot afford to give away that win by taking their first Quad 3 loss of the season at Notre Dame. This is the first of three games that don't help them much before hosting Clemson to end the regular season. | |
NCAA Tournament locks
Locks based on resume: 17 | Bids secured: 0 | At-large spots remaining: 19
| Conference | Locks | Teams |
|---|---|---|
ACC | 2 | Duke, North Carolina |
Big East | 3 | |
Big Ten | 3 | |
Big 12 | 4 | Houston, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas |
Pac-12 | 1 | |
SEC | 3 | |
| 0 | ||
Others | 1 |
Near the cut line
| First 4 Out | Team | Record | NET |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 17-10 | 40 | |
| Seton Hall | 18-9 | 61 | |
| Providence | 18-9 | 54 | |
| Oregon | 18-9 | 63 |
| Next 4 Out | Team | Record | NET |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh | 18-9 | 47 | |
| Villanova | 15-12 | 38 | |
| Texas A&M | 15-12 | 58 | |
| Kansas State | 17-11 | 73 |
Note – all references to NCAA Tournament selection records and trends based on NET rankings excludes the 2021 tournament. Due to shortened schedules and a relatively small number of non-conference games, those rankings are not reliable enough to be considered.