Who else is on the bubble with us?

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SelectionSunday

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Gophers just need to win a game. ... take some of the pressure off that they're obviously feeling. Period. Despite a free-falling February, bottom line is there are still opportunities to right the ship. I know no one wants to be here (Bubbletown), but the truth is when stacked up against other bubble teams the Gophers numbers are still pretty solid.

Through Thursday's games, here's how I see the Field of 65 taking shape. Some teams on the bubble (i.e. Tennessee, Arizona, Boston College) in my opinion are in much better position to earn an at-large bid than others, but I've put them all in one grouping. In a nutshell, there are 34 teams battling for 16 available at-large bids. Keep in mind, the the bubble is fluid; it changes daily.

RPIs are courtesy of CollegeRPI.com.

Conference Leaders (31)
2. Oklahoma
3. North Carolina
4. UConn
6. Michigan State
8. Memphis
9. Utah
21. Washington
25. Dayton
27. Butler
30. Siena
32. Utah State
36. Gonzaga
40. LSU
52. Creighton
55. Davidson
58. Western Kentucky
67. VCU
78. American
82. Weber State
95. Buffalo
98. Stephen F. Austin
100. Vermont
113. Belmont
115. Cornell
116. North Dakota State
120. Robert Morris
122. Tennessee-Martin
132. Long Beach State
150. Radford
155. Morgan State
212. Alabama State

Locks (18) -- barring major disaster, these teams are in:
1. Pitt
5. Duke
7. Clemson
10. Villanova
11. Kansas
12. Xavier
13. West Virginia
14. Mizzou
15. Louisville
16. Wake Forest
17. Syracuse
18. Florida State
19. Illinois
20. Purdue
23. Arizona State
24. Marquette
26. UCLA
28. Cal

**For bubble teams have listed record vs. RPI top 50 & RPI top 100.

On the Bubble (34 in the mix for the final 16 bids)
22. Tennessee: 5-6, 7-9
29. Wisconsin: 3-7, 8-8
31. BYU: 2-3, 7-5
33. Oklahoma State: 2-8, 5-9
34. Ohio State: 6-6, 7-7
35. Temple: 1-4, 4-7
37. Georgetown: 3-8, 6-10
38. GOPHERS: 4-5, 6-7
39. UAB: 1-5, 2-8
41. USC: 3-7, 4-8
42. Arizona: 6-6, 8-8
43. Texas A&M: 4-5, 6-8
44. San Diego State: 1-4, 4-6
45. Florida: 2-4, 6-5
46. Texas: 5-4, 7-7
47. South Carolina: 1-4, 6-5
48. Michigan: 4-8, 8-10
49. Cincinnati: 3-7, 6-9
50. Miami-Florida: 2-7, 5-10
51. Boston College: 3-5, 8-6
53. Baylor: 3-8, 5-8
56. Virginia Tech: 2-4, 6-8
57. UNLV: 4-3, 7-5
59. Penn State: 5-7, 6-8
60. Illinois State: 0-0, 3-1
62. Maryland: 3-7, 7-8
63. Rhode Island: 1-5, 4-7
64. St. Mary's: 1-2, 2-3
65. Kentucky: 3-4, 6-7
66. Nebraska: 2-5, 4-5
70. Providence: 3-6, 5-10
76. Northwestern: 5-7, 5-9
79. Mississippi State: 1-3, 5-5
81. Kansas State: 3-3, 4-6
 

Nicely laid out. Thank you. Let's keep in mind also a lot will happen over the next 4/5/6 games and some of those teams we're on the bubble with, especially in the B10, have hideous schedules to finish conference play. All we have to do is take care of our own business and we're good to go.
 

Thank you. I wish I was as confident as you are about the final 4 regular-season games. I'm glad 3 of the final 4 are at home, yes, but I'm more concerned about how we're playing. Home or road, we won't win any of our remaining games the way we look right now. But the carrot is still out there and well within reach if the Gophers want it.
 

"if the Gophers want it."

That seems to be a good question. They certainly need to show a little more urgency. As you stated we are still in control of our own destiny, but I'm haunted by the thought...this IS who we are. I expect a night of pure torture on Sunday evening. I hope I'm wrong.
 

"I expect a night of pure torture on Sunday evening. I hope I'm wrong."

I feel your pain, Sal. If Northwestern plays like they have been playing (minus the late-game blues), and we play like we have been playing, we not only will get beat. ... we'll get beat like a drum. Northwestern is a good team, the best one they've had in quite some time (Evan Eschmeyer days?). But people just tend to think "Northwestern" and chuckle.

I cringe every time there's an intimation the Gophers will "get well" because we have Northwestern at home. If the Gophers don't bring it Sunday, and we struggle with their 1-3-1 like we did the first time, it could get very ugly in Williams Arena. This is one game where the fans really need to step it up, help the Gophers out. Big time. Start to finish. No let-up.
 


Thanks for the all the work you put into this stuff SS to keep us informed. Let's hope the Gophers can just take care of business and win the last 4. It's going to be interesting rooting for NO UNDERDOGS to win the conference tournaments....and I know I've expressed my concert about Cleveland State taking the Horizon Tournament.
 

So true. Once conference tournaments start, I'll be a big fan of Butler, Creighton, Davidson, Memphis and Utah State. Those are the biggies, try to keep those as 1-bid leagues.

But first things first. The Gophers need to make sure they're at least on the bubble. At this point I'm not very confident that will happen.
 

I am sick of the word bubble

Every year we either are not in the hunt or on the damn bubble. When will we ever be a lock! Its just been too long.
 

When the Gophers make the tournament, usually we do like to do it the hard way, don't we?
 





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