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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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AUSTIN, TEXAS – JANUARY 19: Roach of the Texas Longhorns reacts. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TEXAS – JANUARY 19: Roach of the Texas Longhorns reacts. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /

Big 12 Conference

Lead-pipe lock: Kansas (3), Texas Tech (5), Iowa State (5)

Firmly in the field: Oklahoma (6), Kansas State (7)

Some perspiration: TCU (8)

Double the deodorant: Texas (10), Baylor (10).

Oklahoma Sooners (15-6, 3-5 B12)

NET: 32 | KPI: 15 | SOR: 25 | BPI: 36 | KP: 35 | Sag: 27

Q1: 4-4 | Q2: 5-2 | Q3: 6-0 | Q4: 0-0

One of the few major conference teams who has not played a single Q4 game, Oklahoma remains very firmly in the NCAA Tournament. They have, in my opinion, one of the most underrated resumes in the country and belong higher than most bracketologists have them at this point in time. With that said, though, they have struggled a bit as of late. They are just 3-5 in Big 12 play and have a very difficult stretch coming up. This is a team we will learn a lot more about in the coming weeks.

Kansas State Wildcats (15-5, 5-2 B12)

NET: 25 | KPI: 17 | SOR: 29 | BPI: 41 | KP: 44 | Sag: 35

Q1: 4-2 | Q2: 2-3 | Q3: 6-0 | Q4: 3-0

Kansas State confuses me. First, they struggle a bit early in the season and drop out of the top-25 for losing their biggest non-conference game (at Marquette) and then suffering a bad loss to Tulsa. Then, they got back on track a bit before starting conference play 0-2. After that, the Wildcats won five straight games and seemed to be hitting their stride before…losing to Texas A&M? I’m not really sure what to believe about K-State this year aside from the fact that they are streeeeaky. They will be a tournament team, though.

TCU Horned Frogs (15-5, 3-4 B12)

NET: 28 | KPI: 21 | SOR: 30 | BPI: 31 | KP: 22 | Sag: 23

Q1: 0-3 | Q2: 5-1 | Q3: 4-0 | Q4: 5-0 

TCU is in a tough spot due to their lack of a strong non-conference schedule. Their record is great and they just picked up two big wins over Texas and Florida…but they are still not in tremendous shape to make the NCAA Tournament. They are relatively safe at this point in time (in the No. 7-9 seed range) but they could be much higher given their talent level. There will be plenty of opportunities for the Horned Frogs to move up in the coming weeks but they do not have a ton of depth.

Texas Longhorns (12-9, 4-4 B12)

NET: 41 | KPI: 25 | SOR: 61 | BPI: 37 | KP: 32 | Sag: 32

Q1: 4-5 | Q2: 2-3 | Q3: 3-1 | Q4: 3-0

I have no idea what to believe when it comes to Texas. To put it simply, they hold tremendous wins over North Carolina, Purdue, and Kansas but also suffered brutal losses at the hands of Radford, Providence, Oklahoma State, and Georgia, all of whom are ranked outside of the KenPom top-75. The Longhorns are about as inconsistent as they come but still belong in the NCAA Tournament. They will likely finish out the year in up-and-down fashion but they will snag too many quality wins to be left out.

Baylor Bears (14-6, 5-2 B12)

NET: 34 | KPI: 31 | SOR: 42 | BPI: 33 | KP: 33 | Sag: 37

Q1: 5-3 | Q2: 3-1 | Q3: 1-0 | Q4: 5-2 

One of the hottest bubble teams in the nation, Baylor has seemingly come out of nowhere to land fairly solidly in most projected fields. The Bears, who have terrible losses to Texas Southern, Wichita State, and Stephen F. Austin, have won five consecutive games and are definitely trending upwards. They might still be on the bubble but they should continue to rise given their play as of late. Most recently, Baylor absolutely eviscerated Oklahoma by 30 points on the road. Watch out.

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