CLEVELAND, Ohio — Needless to say AP Top 25 teams would appear to be near locks for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. But there are many ‘bubble’ teams looking to improve their resumes with late-season upsets over their top 25 brothers.
Wednesday night TCU is at No. 3 Kansas. The Jayhawks are pretty much assured of winning the Big 12 regular season title, but TCU is a bubble team that has no NCAA berth locked down as of yet. A victory over KU, or later this week at No. 12 West Virginia, could be the difference between in or out.
No. 10 Duke is at Syracuse Wednesday night, with the Blue Devils seemingly clicking on all cylinders. Syracuse seems to be a favorite of the NCAA Tournament selection committee over the years, no matter how weak their resume is, but is that something the Vevobahis Orangemen can count on once again? An upset over Duke could go a long way toward solidifying that Syracuse bid.
Iowa State is also a desperate team, and will host No. 9 Baylor this Saturday in yet another bubble saving/bursting opportunity for the Big 12. But perhaps one of the biggest games to watch, also Saturday, is No. 18 Virginia, losers of four straight, at lame duck North Carolina State.
If there is a current top 25 team spiraling downward, it’s the Cavaliers. And with NC State likely on an emotional high for ousted head coach Mike Gottfried, this game is far from a layup for Virginia.
Lose this one and the Cavaliers probably slide off the ‘sure thing’ line to suddenly needing a run in the ACC Tournament to regain their stature.
Two weeks left in the regular season and still a lot to be determined.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
