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Bracketology Bubble Watch: Duke, Baylor assigned early lock status

By Lukas Harkins

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 02: Bubbles in the air at The Boleyn Ground during the Betway Cup match between West Ham Utd and SV Werder Bremen at Boleyn Ground on August 2, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 02: Bubbles in the air at The Boleyn Ground during the Betway Cup match between West Ham Utd and SV Werder Bremen at Boleyn Ground on August 2, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 8: The NCAA Tournament Committee meets. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 8: The NCAA Tournament Committee meets. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) /

Bracketology season is heating up in college basketball and with it comes the first edition of my bubble watch. Which teams are in tournament consideration?

NCAA basketball season is now over halfway over with Selection Sunday approaching in under two months. With that said, bracketology is starting to heat up as teams across the country have completed their non-conference resumes. The NCAA Tournament picture is still incredibly murky at this point in the year, though, so my Bubble Watch will attempt to clear up some of where each resume currently stands.

This Bubble Watch will break down every team in contention for an at-large bid at this moment, in my opinion. Each team will be assigned to a category of bubbliciousness and then analyzed with metric rankings, quadrant records, and some words on their play to this point. This will be a weekly article released on Wednesdays for the rest of the year.

Here is a quick overview of my bubble watch categories for those who have not followed along in the past (this is my fifth year writing this piece).

Bubble Watch Categories:

Lead-pipe lock: Barring a massive collapse, these teams are sure-fire NCAA Tournament teams. Due to how early it in the year, there are not many locks and all belong on the No. 1-3 seed lines right now or play in a conference without many opportunities for bad losses.

Firmly in the field: Through the first two months of the season, these teams have put together strong resumes and would not be sweating whatsoever if Selection Sunday was right now. They cannot, though, lose a bunch of games in a row and still remain safe.

Some perspiration: Teams in this category are in dangerous territory but would more than likely be in the NCAA Tournament right now. As long as they play as they have been, an at-large bid is in their future. Slip-ups could increase the potential sweat level, though.

Double the deodorant: These are the squads who would be sweating out Selection Sunday most if the tournament started today. They have work left to do to either remain in the projected field or work their way in.

Now, without any further ado, let’s dive into the first edition of the 2020 bracketology bubble watch! This version of the bubble watch takes into account games played through Jan. 14th (due to the extent of content in this piece, all NET and metric rankings are only through Jan. 13th.)

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