Bracketology Bubble Watch: Analyzing Big Dance odds in mid-February

Diving into the first edition of the Bubble Watch, there are several teams that can reach our Bracketology projected field. How does each team’s resume look?

Welcome to our full breakdown of the teams in consideration for the NCAA Tournament field. Considering it is still early February, there are opportunities for new teams to join this list of potential teams as well as time for those on this list to fall off. In this piece, I will break down the resume of every team in consideration and what their upcoming schedule has in store.

In addition, I will give insight into what each team can do to improve their stock over the coming weeks and how they move into the field more firmly. All of the Bracketology projections that are associated with each team are based on my projected field from Monday, Feb. 5.

With all of this being said, I hope that you all find your team within this piece and that they can improve their status over the last month of the regular season. Before getting into each conference breakdown, here is a look at the categories that a team can be placed into:

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.” With plenty of time left before Selection Sunday, no team has been awarded this position yet.

Key in the lock: This group of teams is very close to a lock. They are ready to turn the key and be locked into the field but it will take a week or two of avoiding bad losses to reach the lock category.

Some perspiration: These are teams that should make the tournament. They are already in the Bracketology prior to this Bubble Watch and are usually in with room to spare.

Add more deodorant: These teams are very much on the fence. They could be in the tournament at the time, but there is very little room between them being in and them being out. Most of these teams are out of the tournament looking for wins to play their way in.