Busting Brackets
Fansided

Bracketology Bubble Watch: Seton Hall, Utah State sitting right on the edge

By Lukas Harkins

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 30: Bubbles are seen prior to the Premier League match between West Ham United and Swansea City at London Stadium on September 30, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 30: Bubbles are seen prior to the Premier League match between West Ham United and Swansea City at London Stadium on September 30, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 12
Next
MIAMI, FL – DECEMBER 01: Coach Keatts of North Carolina State reacts. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – DECEMBER 01: Coach Keatts of North Carolina State reacts. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Atlantic Coast Conference

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

Firmly in the field: Syracuse.

Some perspiration: NC State

Double the deodorant: Clemson.

Syracuse Orange (18-10, 9-6 ACC)

NET: 44 | KPI: 34 | SOR: 40 | BPI: 34 | KP: 37 | Sag: 34

Q1: 3-6 | Q2: 5-2 | Q3: 6-2 | Q4: 4-0

Syracuse is pretty darn safe at this point. Yes, I know they lost both of their last two games but is anyone really going to be mad about dropping contests to Duke and North Carolina? The answer is “no” and that is why the Orange are still safely in the field at this point in time. There are simply too many teams on the bubble behind them that are playing much worse. With that said, though, the Orange cannot afford to coast through the rest of the season. They might only need one more win to assure a bid to the NCAA Tournament but they need to make sure they snag that victory. This will more than likely come in their next game, a road meeting with Wake Forest, but things get a little trickier if they don’t win that one. Current Bracketology Status: No. 9 seed.

NC State Wolfpack (20-8, 8-7 ACC)

NET: 31 | KPI: 60 | SOR: 29 | BPI: 23 | KP: 36 | Sag: 27

Q1: 2-7 | Q2: 5-0 | Q3: 3-1 | Q4: 10-0 

NC State held serve during this past week with easy home victories over Boston College and Wake Forest. These performances did not exactly move the needle for the team but it was vital that the Wolfpack avoided the resume-crushing loss. On the whole, the Wolfpack’s record does not exactly scream “bubble team” but their lack of Q1 wins compared to most teams ahead of them keeps them in a little bit of trouble. NC State is in now but losses matter more to this team because they do not have the quality wins to make up for them. This team should focus on winning two of their remaining three games and that will include needing to win one on the road. Current Bracketology Status: No. 10 seed.

Clemson Tigers (17-11, 7-8 ACC)

NET: 41 | KPI: 53 | SOR: 45 | BPI: 33 | KP: 31 | Sag: 31

Q1: 1-8 | Q2: 4-3 | Q3: 6-0 | Q4: 6-0 

In similar fashion to NC State, the only thing Clemson really did during this past week was avoid disaster. Over the course of the week, the Tigers defended their home court against Boston College and then went on the road to take down Pittsburgh. Given this, the Tigers still belong right around the NCAA Tournament cutline and it is completely reasonable for a bracketologist to have them on either side. Clemson, though, has a monster opportunity approaching with North Carolina coming to town this weekend. Winning that game could put this team in really solid position. Clemson’s resume has been carried by their lack of bad losses all season and finally notching a quality win would go a long way. Current Bracketology Status: No. 12 seed (Last Four In).

Home/Bracketology