Bracketology Projected Field: Kentucky on the top line, Villanova falling
Last four teams IN the field
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Minnesota is seemingly trying its best to miss the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Gophers, who were relatively safe in the field a few weeks ago, have dropped six of their last seven games and are certainly trending in the wrong direction. This is especially true when you consider that their closing stretch (at Northwestern, vs. Purdue, at Maryland) is one of the toughest out of all the bubble teams. I think that head coach Richard Pitino’s team will need at least three more wins (including the B1G Tournament) to stay in the field.
Butler Bulldogs
While bubble teams everywhere have faltered a ton as of late, Butler has been relatively stationary. The Dawgs have won three of their last five games with their only losses coming at St. John’s (in OT) and at Marquette. There is nothing wrong with either of those defeats and they have taken advantage of their other games. Butler sits right on the NCAA Tournament cutline but has a relatively favorable closing schedule. If they are able to win three of their last four Big East games, which would put them at 9-9 in the league, they will likely be in (although they might need a BET win depending on how others perform).
Utah State Aggies
Utah State has won 11 of its last 12 games and that is why they are on the right side of the cutline right now. The Aggies are clearly playing at a high level and they deserve to be in the field. With that said, though, their resume is far from impressive. All of their metric rankings are fairly pedestrian for a bubble team and they are just 3-5 in Q1/2 games while also holding one Q3 loss. This is not exactly great and their at-large hopes might ride on a home matchup with Nevada on Mar. 2.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama, like seemingly every other bubble team, has been floundering as of late. The Crimson Tide have lost three of their last four games with the lone win coming at home against a Vanderbilt team that is winless in SEC play. With a rigorous closing stretch approaching, head coach Avery Johnson’s team will certainly have the opportunity to play their way firmly into the field but they could also drop out just as easily.