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Bracketology Bubble Watch: Indiana, Creighton sitting on the edge

By Lukas Harkins

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 19: Romeo Langford #0 of the Indiana Hoosiers prepares to shoot a free throw against the Purdue Boilermakers at Assembly Hall on February 19, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 19: Romeo Langford #0 of the Indiana Hoosiers prepares to shoot a free throw against the Purdue Boilermakers at Assembly Hall on February 19, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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OMAHA, NE – MARCH 23: Coach Brownell of the Clemson Tigers reacts. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE – MARCH 23: Coach Brownell of the Clemson Tigers reacts. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Atlantic Coast Conference

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

Firmly in the field: None.

Some perspiration: None.

Double the deodorant: NC State, Clemson.

NC State Wolfpack (20-10, 8-9 ACC)

NET: 35 | KPI: 72 | SOR: 36 | BPI: 26 | KP: 39 | Sag: 30

Q1: 2-8 | Q2: 5-0 | Q3: 3-2 | Q4: 10-0

There is not a single team in the country that has benefited from the new NET ranking system more than NC State. One of the more polarizing teams to evaluate in the entire country, the Wolfpack have not lived up to the expectations set by their quality metrics so far this season. And while their NET is obviously superb for a bubble team, their RPI is outside of the top-100 (not that it really matters). This, though, is almost completely beside the point. Due to their quality rankings, NC State definitely belongs in the field right now but that might not stick. The Wolfpack have dropped each of their last two games and they finish with a potentially difficult road test against Boston College. They absolutely need that win to maintain some margin for error heading into the ACC Tournament. Current Bracketology Status: No. 11 seed (Last Four Byes).

Clemson Tigers (18-12, 8-9 ACC)

NET: 40 | KPI: 53 | SOR: 42 | BPI: 31 | KP: 29 | Sag: 33

Q1: 1-9 | Q2: 5-3 | Q3: 6-0 | Q4: 6-0

Clemson has one of the most underwhelming resumes in the country, in my opinion. They do not have a single bad loss on their resume but they have also put together a weak 6-12 record in Q1/2 games. Because of this, the Tigers remain on the bubble despite boasting some superb quality metric rankings. With one more game remaining in the season, a home bout against Syracuse, Clemson has run out of regular-season opportunities to move into a “safe” position. Defending their home court against the Orange could be vital to potentially making the Big Dance. It is a good thing, though, that this team has played quite well as of late. Clemson has won three of its last four with its only loss coming at home by two points against North Carolina. Current Bracketology Status: No. 12 seeds (Last Four In).

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