Bracketology: Bubble Watch (Building a resume and the bubble as it is)

Nov 28, 2016; Evansville, IL, USA; Northwestern Wildcats guard Bryant McIntosh (30) celebrates after hitting a three point shot during the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Wildcats won 65-58. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /

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Dec 21, 2016; Spokane, WA, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs center Przemek Karnowski (24) goes up for a shot against South Dakota Coyotes forward Tyler Flack (23) during the second half at McCarthey Athletic Center. The Bulldogs won 102-65. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports /

Others

Lead-Pipe Lock: N/A

Some Perspiration: Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, Wichita State

Better Double-Up on the Deodorant: UT-Arlington, Middle Tennessee, NC-Wilmington, Valparaiso

Gonzaga Bulldogs, 12-0: Two really good wins, one more solid one, and no bad losses. Correction: no losses. The Zags are once again one of the top teams in the country and will be competing for one of the top seeds in the tournament. Przemek Karnowski (above) is a force in the paint, where is averaging over 10 points per game on 54.5 percent shooting in just 21.5 minutes.

Quality wins: vs. Florida, vs. Arizona, vs. Iowa State

Bad losses: see record above.

Missed opportunities: again, see record above.

Up next: vs. Pepperdine (12/29), @ Pacific (12/31)

Saint Mary’s Gaels, 10-1: The loss to UT-Arlington once seemed like a resume-killer, but it seems like UT-Arlington is turning out to be a better team than anyone was expecting. Other than that game, however, the Gaels have been excellent, as they’ve been able to secure road victories over Stanford and Dayton. Jock Landale has been tremendous with his scoring (17.9 points per game) and rebounding (9.5 per game) on an impressive 63.6 percent shooting clip.

Quality wins: @ Stanford, @ Dayton

Bad losses: None

Missed opportunities: vs. UT-Arlington

Up next: @ Loyola Marymount (12/29), vs. San Diego (12/31)

Wichita State Shockers, 10-3: Even though the Shockers have three losses, they’ve also played one of their most difficult non-conference schedules in the past few years. All three of their losses have come against potential tournament teams, but they do need more quality wins to make their chances of an at-large bid go up. However, there aren’t any good chances left for the Shockers, so they just need to take care of business and avoid more than two or three losses.

Quality wins: None

Bad losses: None

Missed opportunities: vs. Louisville, vs. Oklahoma State, vs. Michigan State

Up next: @ Indiana State (12/28), vs. Bradley (1/1)

Next: Predicting and projecting the gauntlet that is conference play

And that wraps up the Bubble Watch for how we stand at the beginning of conference play. For comments and questions regarding our bubble or Bracketology, tweet @BustingBrackets or @hardwiredsports (that’s me!).

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