Bubblicious Friday: Nebraska and BYU swap bubble positioning

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SelectionSunday

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Note: We'll pick this up again Sunday morning, as there's not a lot going on tonight, unless Wichita State gets beat by Evansville in the MVC quarterfinals. Saturday/Sunday games are listed for each bubble team. Please make a note of the difficult games most of the other bubble teams have. There's the potential for this to be a really good weekend for the Gophers.

Thursday developments? 'Twas a quiet night on the bubble. ...

(1) Xavier's loss to Villanova drops the Musketeers to a true bubbler.

(2) Iowa falls at Michigan State (Fran's temper is now rubbing off on his players), but the Hawkeyes can still lock up a bid this weekend simply by beating Illinois in Iowa City.

(3) On second thought, after looking things over and sleeping on it, Nebraska and BYU swap places. Huskers now a lock if they win their next game (vs. Badgers), while BYU becomes a true bubbler. It's important who that "next game" is. If the Huskers beat Bucky, they won't get left out with an 11-7 Big Ten record that includes significant victories over Michigan State at the Breslin Center (that one's the biggie), the Gophers, Ohio State, and Wisconsin, with a sweep of Indiana thrown in for good measure. BYU remains in good shape for a bid, but not so good that the Cougars belong in the "win their next game" category.

Auto Bids/Placeholders (32)
Vermont (America East), Cincinnati (American), Virginia (ACC), Florida Gulf Coast (Atlantic Sun), Saint Louis (Atlantic 10), Villanova (Big East), Weber State (Big Sky), High Point (Big South), Michigan (Big Ten), Kansas (Big XII), UC-Irvine (Big West), Delaware (Colonial), Louisiana Tech (Conference USA), Green Bay (Horizon), Harvard (Ivy), Iona (MAAC), Toledo (MAAC), North Carolina Central (MEAC), Wichita State (Missouri Valley), San Diego State (Mountain West), Robert Morris (NEC), Belmont (OVC), Arizona (Pac 12), Boston U (Patriot), Florida (SEC), Davidson (Southern), Stephen F. Austin (Southland), Alabama State (SWAC), North Dakota State (Summit), Georgia State (Sun Belt), Gonzaga (WCC), Utah Valley (WAC).

Locks (22)
Wisconsin (5), Creighton (7), Duke (8), Syracuse (11), Iowa State (12), UMass (13), VCU (14), New Mexico (17), UCLA (18), North Carolina (19), Oklahoma (20), Kentucky (21), Michigan State (22), Louisville (25), Texas (26), Ohio State (27), Colorado (28), UConn (29), Memphis (32), Arizona State (33), Kansas State (38), Baylor (39)

AVAILABLE BIDS: 14 (7 if we concede bids to thresholders)

On the Threshold/Win Your Next Game and You're In (7)
George Washington (30) -- @ Fordham, 3:30 p.m. Saturday
Oregon (31) -- Arizona, 3 p.m. Saturday (CBS)
Iowa (40) -- lost to Michigan State 76-86; Illinois, 7:30 p.m. Saturday (BTN)
Oklahoma State (42) -- @ Iowa State, 1 p.m. Saturday (ESPN)
SMU (44) -- @ Memphis, 11 a.m. Saturday (ESPN2)
Nebraska (49) -- Wisconsin, 6:30 p.m. Sunday (BTN)
Arkansas (55) -- @ Alabama, 3 p.m. Saturday

Truest of the True Bubblers (13)
BYU (34) -- vs. Loyola Marymount, 4:30 p.m. Saturday
Saint Joseph's (35) -- La Salle, 3 p.m. Sunday (CBSSN)
Dayton (43) -- Richmond, 6 p.m. Saturday
Xavier (45) -- lost to Villanova 70-77
Stanford (46) -- Utah, 1:30 p.m. Saturday (Pac 12 Network)
Tennessee (47) -- Missouri, 3 p.m. Saturday (ESPN)
GOPHERS (48) -- Penn State, 4:15 p.m. Sunday (BTN)
Missouri (51) -- @ Tennessee, 3 p.m. Saturday (ESPN)
Pitt (53) -- @ Clemson, 3 p.m. Saturday
Providence (54) -- @ Creighton, 7 p.m. Saturday (CBSSN)
Florida State (56) -- Syracuse, 1 p.m. Sunday
Georgetown (57) -- @ Villanova, 1 p.m. Saturday (FS1)
Cal (59) -- Colorado, 5:30 p.m. Saturday (Pac 12 Network)

On the Radar (5)
Southern Miss (36)
LSU (61) -- beat Vanderbilt 57-51; Georgia, 4 p.m. Saturday
Saint John's (65) -- @ Marquette, 11 a.m. Saturday (FS1)
Clemson (69) -- Pitt, 3 p.m. Saturday
Utah (75) -- @ Stanford, 1:30 p.m. Saturday (Pac 12 Network)

Conference Tournaments Resuming Tonight
Big South quarterfinals -- 1-bid conference (High Point #1 seed) -- Gophers want host Coastal Carolina to win it.
Horizon quarterfinals -- potential bid-stealer if someone other than Green Bay wins it (Green Bay #1 seed).
MVC quarterfinals-- definite bid-stealer if someone other than Wichita State wins it (Shockers #1 seed).
OVC semifinals -- 1-bid conference (#1 Belmont highest seed remaining).
WCC quarterfinals -- potential bid-stealer if someone other than Gonzaga/BYU wins it (Zags #1 seed).

Conference Tournaments Starting Tonight
Colonial 1st round -- 1-bid conference (Delaware #1 seed).
Southern -- 1-bid conference (Davidson #1 seed) -- Gophers want #3 seed Wofford to win it.
 

Today's RPI boosters:

Coastal Carolina needs to beat Charleston Southern
 

A lot of our "bubbler" opponents face a tough weekend. It's possible that every one of the teams below us - in terms of RPI- loses. Those are all tough games and most of them on the road.
 

"Brownie Point" wins

upnorthkid said:
Today's RPI boosters:

Coastal Carolina needs to beat Charleston Southern
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It wouldn't hurt Gophers if a couple of their nonconference opponents like Coastal Carolina, Montana, South Dakota State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and/or Wofford earn auto bids. ... "brownie point" wins. All are, or likely will be, high seeds (top 2) in their respective tournaments.
 

SelectionSunday said:

Horizon quarterfinals -- potential bid-stealer if someone other than Green Bay wins it (Green Bay #1 seed).
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If Green Bay makes finals and loses, do you think they get an at-large?

And, what about NDSU in the Summit (better RPI than UWGB)?
 


tjgopher said:
If Green Bay makes finals and loses, do you think they get an at-large?

And, what about NDSU in the Summit (better RPI than UWGB)?
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First, I'd be surprised if NDSU didn't win it, despite the chance of a virtual road game vs. SDSU in Sioux Falls for the Championship. But if they do lose, they're not getting in based on everything I've seen.
 

tjgopher said:
If Green Bay makes finals and loses, do you think they get an at-large?

And, what about NDSU in the Summit (better RPI than UWGB)?
Click to expand...

Leaning no for both, especially NDSU. At least Green Bay has a truly top-shelf win (Virginia). The committee does have a history of rewarding one or two regular-season champs from smaller conferences who weren't able to close the deal with the auto bid. Middle Tennessee last season is an example.

If NDSU had managed to beat Southern Miss in Fargo, just that one extra win would look awfully good right now (even though I think Southern Miss is a RPI tiger). Would the committee take a team whose best RPI win is over #74 CAA champion Delaware? There are a couple decent others -- @ #86 Western Michigan, #92 Towson, and @ #119 Notre Dame when the Irish were full strength -- but that's about it.
 

First #1 seed goes down

Big South top seed High Point falls to Winthrop in the quarterfinals. Gopher opponent and tournament host Coastal Carolina along with VMI now become the Big South's de facto favorites.

Coastal plays Charleston Southern tonight at 5 p.m. Go Chanticleers.
 

Gophers get a little help from Coastal Carolina, who just beat Charleston Southern in 2OT. The #1 seed in the Big South (High Point) lost earlier today, so it's wide open for Coastal to win on their home floor. VMI tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the semis is gonna be a tough one though. That will be the defacto championship, most likely.
 



Game 1 of the day goes to St. John's. They still don't worry me that much though.

Marquette can go $%^ themselves though. 2 games of rooting for cheeseheads and nothing to show for it.
 

howeda7 said:
Game 1 of the day goes to St. John's. They still don't worry me that much though. Marquette can go $%^ themselves though. 2 games of rooting for cheeseheads and nothing to show for it.
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I think you jumped the gun. Still in OT.
 

howeda7 said:
Game 1 of the day goes to St. John's. They still don't worry me that much though.

Marquette can go $%^ themselves though. 2 games of rooting for cheeseheads and nothing to show for it.
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Game not finished yet.
 




And Marquette still manages to choke it in double OT.
 

howeda7 said:
Yes. I typed that when they were down 6 with 11 seconds left. What was I thinking?
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Haha. I flipped to it at the start of 2OT. No idea that happened.

Nothing uglier than a talented team underperforming.
 

F*ing Marquette ... could've driven a stake into Providence and St. Johns and chokes both of them away!
 

WanderingGopher said:
F*ing Marquette ... could've driven a stake into Providence and St. Johns and chokes both of them away!
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Yeah it pisses me off too. However, I like our resume over Providence and St. Johns. If a bubble game didn't go our way today I prefer it to be this one.
 

topos said:
Yeah it pisses me off too. However, I like our resume over Providence and St. Johns. If a bubble game didn't go our way today I prefer it to be this one.
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Agree. If we win tomorrow, I don't see any way we're not still ahead of St. John's.
 

Welp Stanford sure wanted to lose missing 5/6 free throws down the stretch...Another close bubble game not going in the Goph's favor.
 

Stanford wins by one at home over Utah, just a f'ing brutal result. Utah had the ball with 20 seconds left and a chance to win and turned it over.
 

Wow. When was the last time that anyone has seen the bubble teams win like this all in the last week? This is like the worst case scenario for the Gophers who haven't played in a week...can something go our way please!
 

Twinsfan007 said:
Wow. When was the last time that anyone has seen the bubble teams win like this all in the last week? This is like the worst case scenario for the Gophers who haven't played in a week...can something go our way please!
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Pitt is losing. Would drop them to bubble and perhaps behind gophers. Ok St lost which could drop them to bubble if they fail to win again. Either Tn or Mizzou will be knocked out today. All is not lost Gopher fans!
 

Rouser said:
Pitt is losing. Would drop them to bubble and perhaps behind gophers. Ok St lost which could drop them to bubble if they fail to win again. Either Tn or Mizzou will be knocked out today. All is not lost Gopher fans!
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Pitt has no reason even being near the bubble. They're the one team above the U that really puzzles me.

Mizzou looks brutal. Them losing helps a lot. Hopefully Tennessee falls early in the SEC tourney.
 

Georgetown lost. Also if Kentucky loses in the first round of SEC they can't feel good. They have only 1 RPI top 50 win. Looks like at 9+ seed for them depending on conference tournament.
 

Funny, I just created a thread on Pitt.
They are a joke. I contacted a couple bracketologists about Pitt and they said they were better than other bubble teams because they had no losses to below 100 teams, but their best win is Stanford.
 

EG#9 said:
Stanford wins by one at home over Utah, just a f'ing brutal result. Utah had the ball with 20 seconds left and a chance to win and turned it over.
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Damn. That would have been huge in more ways than one. They're probably in now.
 

Rouser said:
Pitt is losing. Would drop them to bubble and perhaps behind gophers. Ok St lost which could drop them to bubble if they fail to win again. Either Tn or Mizzou will be knocked out today. All is not lost Gopher fans!
Click to expand...

Pitt's coming back. But at least Georgetown lost and Arkansas is getting run.
 

Wow. Pitt just stole the ball and made a 2 to put the game in OT....we really can't catch a break...
 

Twinsfan007 said:
Wow. Pitt just stole the ball and made a 2 to put the game in OT....we really can't catch a break...
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It's brutal. Never seen anything like it. Can't believe Clemson didn't call time out there.
 

He didn't get it off, but I bet they won't overturn it.
 

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