Busting Brackets
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Bracketology Bubble Watch: Where do fringe tournament teams stand?

By Lukas Harkins

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 15: A general view of the court with March Madness signage is seen prior to the start of the game between the OklahomaSooners and the Rhode Island Rams in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 15: A general view of the court with March Madness signage is seen prior to the start of the game between the OklahomaSooners and the Rhode Island Rams in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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MIAMI, FL – DECEMBER 01: Ponds of the St. John’s Red Storm reacts. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – DECEMBER 01: Ponds of the St. John’s Red Storm reacts. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Big East Conference

Lead-pipe lock: Villanova (4), Marquette (3)

Firmly in the field: None.

Some perspiration: None.

Double the deodorant: St. John’s (11), Butler (F4O), Seton Hall (12), Creighton (F4O)

St. John’s Red Storm (16-5, 4-5 BE)

NET: 44 | KPI: 34 | SOR: 39 | BPI: 40 | KP: 48 | Sag: 43

Q1: 2-3 | Q2: 5-0 | Q3: 1-2 | Q4: 8-0

One of the tougher teams in the country to place, I think everyone agrees that St. John’s is far more talented than its resume. At times, this team looks like they should be a lock for the NCAA Tournament but they can also look like one that belongs nowhere near the bubble. The inconsistencies of the Red Storm have been present throughout the season and are the major reason why they are on the bubble. In fact, during this past week alone, St. John’s suffered what many thought would be a disastrous home loss to Georgetown before turning around and taking down Creighton on the road by double-digits. Who knows with this team? Regardless, a huge stretch approaches with back-to-back road games against Marquette and Duke coming up before a three-game homestand.

Butler Bulldogs (12-10, 3-6 BE)

NET: 55 | KPI: 48 | SOR: 86 | BPI: 48 | KP: 51 | Sag: 45

Q1: 1-6 | Q2: 4-3 | Q3: 4-1 | Q4: 3-0

Butler, despite losing each of its last three games, remains firmly in the NCAA Tournament conversation and that basically summarizes the state of the bubble this season. The Dawgs have an unimpressive resume on the whole but can boast a few quality wins and not many bad losses. With that said, though, they desperately need to turn a corner and soon. Above all other factors, Butler needs to find a way to connect offensively again and work as a team. When they are clicking, this team can be very hard to beat. The problem is we haven’t seen them click in two weeks. Their home matchup with Seton Hall on Saturday might just be a must-win scenario.

Seton Hall Pirates (13-8, 4-5 BE)

NET: 63 | KPI: 37 | SOR: 45 | BPI: 61 | KP: 68 | Sag: 59

Q1: 2-4 | Q2: 5-1 | Q3: 3-2 | Q4: 3-0

Seton Hall desperately needed a win in their last game and they did just that. After falling in their previous four games, the Pirates ended this past week by sneaking past Providence at home. This brought Seton Hall right back onto the right side of the cutline for many people but they have to maintain some consistency. A road matchup against Butler approaches and that game will be huge for the conference as a whole. Seton Hall has lost four straight road games and Butler dropped two consecutive home games. Something needs to break.

Creighton Bluejays (12-9, 3-5 BE)

NET: 62 | KPI: 46 | SOR: 58 | BPI: 53 | KP: 55 | Sag: 51 

Q1: 1-7 | Q2: 2-1 | Q3: 4-0 | Q4: 3-0 

Creighton’s lack of bad losses continues to keep them in pretty strong shape. Even though they have nearly double-digit losses on the year, it is impressive that they do not have a single one in Q3/4. This puts them in a decent spot as long as they notch a few more quality wins down the stretch of this season. The Bluejays are also rated relatively well by most metrics with room to grow. They did, though, just suffer a tough home loss to St. John’s in a game that could have moved them back into most projected fields.

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