Bracketology Confidence Builder: Recent slide has Louisville sitting on the bubble

The Cardinals are newcomers to the bubble after a rough stretch that has seen them lose four of their last five games, including the last two at home to Florida State and Syracuse. The biggest problem with their tournament resume is a lack of quality wins. Fortunately for them, they are in the ACC and their last five games will give them ample opportunity to fix that problem. If Louisville can win four of its last seven, which includes home games with North Carolina and potential top seed Virginia, the Cards should feel pretty good entering the ACC Tournament.

Nebraska has gotten hot in Big Ten play and finds itself tied for fourth place in the standings entering the week. Like Louisville, the Cornhuskers are lacking in quality wins on their tournament profile. Unlike Louisville, Nebraska will have to wait for the conference tournament to fix that problem. However, its schedule is set up to give them a chance for a strong finish and a good seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Nebraska needs to keep this strong run of play going so it can be in the best possible position heading to Madison Square Garden for the conference tourney.

The Mustangs picked up a huge win at Wichita State a couple of weeks ago, but also suffered a season ending injury to Jarrey Foster in that game. Foster's production has been missed, but SMU still has a profile worthy of NCAA Tournament consideration. They have a home-and-home with Houston left, as well as home games with Cincinnati and the Shockers, which gives the Mustangs a chance at adding to their list of quality wins, which also includes a victory over Arizona in the Bahamas. If SMU can win its other games and one or two of those games against the other American Conference contenders, the Mustangs can find themselves in the bracket on Selection Sunday.