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Bracketology: Final Bubble Watch before Selection Sunday

By Lukas Harkins

Feb 21, 2017; Iowa City, IA, USA; The Iowa Hawkeyes bench celebrates during the second half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes won 96-90 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 21, 2017; Iowa City, IA, USA; The Iowa Hawkeyes bench celebrates during the second half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes won 96-90 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 5, 2017; Evanston, IL, USA; The Purdue Boilermakers wait before player introductions prior to the first half against the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 5, 2017; Evanston, IL, USA; The Purdue Boilermakers wait before player introductions prior to the first half against the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /

With just a few days remaining until Selection Sunday, here is our final edition of the Bracketology Bubble Watch for this season.

For the last edition of the Bubble Watch, I took to Twitter again for questions, and you guys came through once again. The bubble has significantly shrunk as Selection Sunday has grown closer, so let’s get into the mailbag and then which teams are still on the bubble and what they need to do to get in the Big Dance.

If Marquette falls in their opening game to Seton Hall, they will likely still make the tournament, but as an 11 seed. This will mean they have fallen to one of the last teams in the tournament, but probably not in the last four in. A loss to the Pirates is not a bad one for a resume, and the Golden Eagles have done enough to earn a bid to the Big Dance.

Should they win, the Golden Eagles could climb to a single-digit seed, but for the time being, a 10 or 11 seems likely if they lose their first game.

I don’t think Georgia Tech losing really makes any difference. The Yellow Jackets needed to do a lot of work to get in the ACC Tournament to make the Big Dance, so them falling early has no major impact on the bubble. As for Rhode Island, I mention later in this article that they should get in if they reach the finals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Rhody might not be as good as advertised in the preseason and occasionally struggle to pass the eye test, but wins over Cincinnati and VCU can still carry that resume, especially if they knock off Dayton before Selection Sunday. The Rams are one of the teams with the most work left for those teams currently IN my projected field, but they can certainly get it done.

Caleb Swanigan is an outstanding player and Purdue can shoot the ball very well, but I do not have confidence in them to reach the second weekend. The Big Ten is in the midst of a down season, and Purdue only had one good win in the non-conference schedule, which came against Notre Dame. It is hard to trust a team who is just a tad over .500. The Boilermakers are on my four line, but I would be nervous about any potentially dangerous match-up both in the first round and the second.

Purdue definitely has the star-power to make a deep run, but I do not trust any of the teams in the Big Ten at the current moment.

Categories for the Bubble Watch:

Lead-Pipe Lock: These are teams that are guaranteed to make the tournament and there is such a small likelihood that they miss the tournament that they are categorized as “locks.”

Some Perspiration:These are teams that should make the tournament. They are already in the most recent projected bracket and are usually in with room to spare.

Better Double Up On The Deodorant:These teams are truly on the fence. They might be in at the moment, but even the smallest of changes could boot them out. Most of these teams are out of the tournament looking for wins to play their way in.

It is unlikely that a team makes a rise this late in the season onto the bubble if they are not on right now, but in college basketball, the extraordinary becomes ordinary, so someone can still make that jump. This edition of the Bubble Watch takes into account results through March 7th.

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