Busting Brackets
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Bracketology Bubble Watch: Who is shooting for an at-large bid?

By Lukas Harkins

BLOOMINGTON, IN - JANUARY 14: Romeo Langford #0 of the Indiana Hoosiers prepares to shoot a free throw against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Assembly Hall on January 14, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN - JANUARY 14: Romeo Langford #0 of the Indiana Hoosiers prepares to shoot a free throw against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Assembly Hall on January 14, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 14: Syracuse Orange celebrate. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 14: Syracuse Orange celebrate. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

Atlantic Coast Conference

Lead-pipe lock: Duke, Virginia, North Carolina, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Florida State.

Firmly in the field: None.

Some perspiration: Syracuse

Double the deodorant: NC State, Clemson.

Syracuse Orange (17-8, 8-4 ACC)

NET: 48 | KPI: 34 | SOR: 41 | BPI: 37 | KP: 44 | Sag: 39

Q1: 2-4 | Q2: 4-2 | Q3: 7-2 | Q4: 4-0

I know this sounds weird but I think Syracuse is pretty safely in the field at this point in time. Their record and rankings might not look tremendous but with the way the bubble has performed as of late, I find it hard to believe that the Orange could fall out. This team has definitely underachieved compared to preseason expectations but you would be a fool to think they will be an “easy out” in the NCAA Tournament. This team has enough talent to be a second-weekend team if everything clicks. Syracuse splits its games during this past week, defeating Boston College at home before dropping a road bout with NC State. Current seed projection: No. 9.

NC State Wolfpack (18-7, 6-6 ACC)

NET: 31 | KPI: 61 | SOR: 30 | BPI: 22 | KP: 39 | Sag: 29

Q1: 1-6 | Q2: 6-0 | Q3: 2-1 | Q4: 9-0 

NC State won both of its games this week (at Pitt, vs. Syracuse) but their resume is still quite underwhelming on the whole. For a team that is sitting at .500 in ACC play, the Wolfpack really lack quality wins and they are staying above the cutline thanks to their high metric ratings and holding only bad loss. NC State is pretty safe, on the whole, but they should focus on sweeping Boston College and Wake Forest at home during this upcoming stretch (after a road game with Duke…). Current seed projection: No. 10.

Clemson Tigers (14-8, 4-5 ACC)

NET: 43 | KPI: 49 | SOR: 43 | BPI: 31 | KP: 30 | Sag: 32

Q1: 1-6 | Q2: 3-3 | Q3: 5-0 | Q4: 6-0 

Clemson moved into pretty strong position earlier this week after they defended their home court in a great win over Virginia Tech. This catapult in the rankings, though, did not last all that long as the Tigers then turned around and lost a road game to Miami (FL). On the whole, I would still call this a successful week due to the fact that Clemson rose significantly in all metrics while also gaining a strong victory. The Tigers do not have a single Q3/4 loss and should be in the field right now. They should need to focus on going 2-2 over their next four games. Current seed projection: No. 11.

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