Busting Brackets
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Bracketology Bubble Watch: Who deserves at-large consideration?

By Lukas Harkins

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 20: Bubbles are seen prior to the Premier League match between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur at London Stadium on October 20, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 20: Bubbles are seen prior to the Premier League match between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur at London Stadium on October 20, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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RALEIGH, NC – JANUARY 29: North Carolina State Wolfpack react. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – JANUARY 29: North Carolina State Wolfpack react. (Photo by Lance King/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 (18-8, 9-4 ACC)

NET: 40 | KPI: 28 | SOR: 37 | BPI: 32 | KP: 38 | Sag: 33

Q1: 3-4 | Q2: 5-2 | Q3: 6-2 | Q4: 4-0

While every other team struggled, Syracuse made a giant leap this week. Sure, their resume still has some holes in it but their dominating home performance against Louisville resulted in a big jump in every metric. Additionally, this might be the win that keeps Syracuse in the field for good. With an incredibly difficult closing schedule (vs. Duke, at UNC, at Wake, vs. UVA, at Clemson), the Orange might only need to win one or two more games to remain in the field. That might come as a surprise given their current seeding but I don’t think enough bubble teams could pass Syracuse. Current Projected Seed: No. 9.

NC State Wolfpack (19-8, 7-7 ACC)

NET: 32 | KPI: 59 | SOR: 30 | BPI: 24 | KP: 36 | Sag: 27

Q1: 1-7 | Q2: 6-0 | Q3: 3-1 | Q4: 9-0 

NC State’s resume continues to be underwhelming. Due to an extremely weak non-conference strength of schedule, the Wolfpack find themselves on the bubble despite a very strong W-L record compared to the teams around them. And while the team has added some strong wins, holding only one Q1 victory at this point in the year is a bit concerning. With that said, though, NC State is not only in great standing with quality metrics but also finishes with an easy closing schedule. The expectation should be that the Wolfpack win three of their last four regular-season games and solidify their position in the Big Dance while finishing above-.500 in ACC play. Current Projected Seed: No. 10

Clemson Tigers (15-11, 5-8 ACC)

NET: 43 | KPI: 55 | SOR: 50 | BPI: 36 | KP: 33 | Sag: 34

Q1: 1-8 | Q2: 3-3 | Q3: 5-0 | Q4: 6-0 

Clemson is rated extremely high by quality metrics despite the idea that their resume is…average…at best. Even though the Tigers play in arguably the best conference in the country, they still only hold four total Q1/2 wins and their record in those games sits at 4-11. That is flat-out brutal. Thankfully, Clemson does not have a single bad loss and that is helping to keep them in the field but this resume is pretty ugly on the whole. If they did not have quality metrics in the top-40, they would definitely be on the outside looking in. Clemson has a reasonable closing schedule but it might be hard for them to stay in without picking up a big-time home win over North Carolina or Syracuse. Current Projected Seed: No. 12 (Last Four In).

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