Tuesday nights bubble watch did not fail to live up to the hype. We saw LSU take Kentucky to the wire, Clemson almost add a signature win to their resume, Temple pick up a huge home win to solidify their profile and Memphis completely eliminate itself from at large contention. Overall the theme of the night was the top ranked teams escaping with wins over teams that desperately needed signature wins. In similar fashion Wednesday night is chalked full of opportunities for bubble teams.
Bubble Watch Games of the Night:
Miami @ Wake Forest- Miami faces a similar situation as many other bubble teams in that they need to win this game to avoid a bubble popping loss. While this would not completely kill their profile they have sustained several very poor losses this season and really can't afford another one at Wake Forest. This win wouldn't add a whole lot to their profile but any road win counts for something so it does have some value
Prediction: Miami slips by Wake Forest to remain in the field of 68 for now. I would not be surprised though if they were to lose given their struggles against inferior opponents.
Georgia @ Texas A&M- This is the ideal sort of game for a bubble watch where two teams who are squarely on the edge of the field face off. While neither would have their NCAA hopes dashed in this game whoever wins will a nice boost to their profile in particular because it is over a team either may be fighting against for one of the last spots in the field.
Prediction: I believe Georgia is actually better than their record indicated and will win this game on the road adding a very solid road win to their profile which will help them close in on securing a NCAA berth.
Virginia @ N.C. State- North Carolina State will be given the same challenge that LSU and Clemson received tonight. If they are able to capitalize and beat Virginia it will be the kind of quality win that not many teams are able to secure let alone teams on the bubble. It will be interesting to see how they fair because if they were to win they would have wins over Duke and Virginia and with two wins of that caliber it would be very difficult for them to miss the tournament.
Prediction: A beat up Virginia team wins on the road in another low scoring slugfest that they love so much. I imagine they will barely reach 50 but that's fine because it may be a struggle for N.C. St. to reach 40.
Wyoming @ San Diego St.- This may not appear to be as big of a bubble matchup as you may expect but I believe San Diego State's profile is actually considerably weaker than others. Also Wyoming has to win a number of games like this in order to have a real chance at an at-large berth despite their sterling overall record. Regardless we may begin to figure out more about the Mountain West after this game
Prediction: San Diego St. holds serve at home and and adds another top 100 RPI win that I believe they really need to begin to solidify their at-large profile.
Other Games of Note:
Massachusetts @ St. Bonaventure
Pittsburgh @ Louisville
Oregon St. @ UCLA
While none of these games have huge implications on the bubble they could help place teams closer to their goal of being relevant. In the case of Pittsburgh this would put them extremely close, but it was not worthy of it's own page because the probability of them winning @Louisville is very low. If Pitt was at home like N.C. State it would be worth more consideration. Nonetheless if they were somehow to win it would be a huge win for their bubble status.
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