Bracketology Bubble Watch: Arizona State, Stanford trending oppositely
Lead-Pipe Locks: San Diego State.
At-Large Contenders: Northern Iowa, ETSU, Utah State
Northern Iowa Panthers (19-3, 8-2 MVC)
NET: 43 | KPI: 44 | SOR: 27 | BPI: 55 | KP: 39 | Sag: 55
Q1: 1-1 | Q2: 2-0 | Q3: 9-2 | Q4: 5-0
Northern Iowa is taking advantage of a weak bubble to move into strong positioning for an at-large bid. while the Panthers have not played the most difficult schedule in the country, they have only lost three games all season and that deserves to be commended. Additionally, their road win over Colorado in non-conference play remains a very good one. UNI ranks well in most metrics and has the benefit of its superb record. Road matchups with Loyola-Chicago and Indiana State appear to be the main hurdles left towards a bid to the Big Dance.
Current Bracketology Placement: No. 9 seed.
East Tennessee State Buccaneers (19-4, 8-2 SC)
NET: 53 | KPI: 50 | SOR: 34 | BPI: 49 | KP: 66 | Sag: 58
Q1: 2-1 | Q2: 2-1 | Q3: 4-1 | Q4: 8-1
East Tennessee State was awarded the automatic bid from the SoCon in my most recent bracketology field but it would be just among those on the cutline as an at-large team as well. The Buccaneers have only lost four times this season and can boast a solid road win over LSU. Their home loss to Mercer a couple of weeks ago is the real killer on their resume but there’s no way to simply erase that result. ETSU will need to finish strong against a tough conference in order to dance. They still have to face Furman at home and Wofford on the road.
Current Bracketology Placement: No. 11 seed.
Utah State Aggies (17-7, 6-5 MWC)
NET: 55 | KPI: 77 | SOR: 53 | BPI: 39 | KP: 47 | Sag: 50
Q1: 2-4 | Q2: 1-2 | Q3: 4-1 | Q4: 8-0
Utah State has now won six of seven with its lone loss coming on the road to San Diego State. By virtue of this strong play as of late, the team has moved into at-large consideration. The Aggies do not have a great resume but have definitely been playing their best basketball as of late and will be favored to win each of their final four regular-season games. Utah State has an intriguing bubble case. Considering their level of play at the moment, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they made it all the way to the MWC Tournament final before losing again. If that occurs, they would likely dance. Current Bracketology Placement: OUT.
Others worth monitoring: UNC-Greensboro.
Next. Bracketology Projected Field. dark
That concludes this edition of my bracketology bubble watch with a little over one month remaining until Selection Sunday. Check back again next Wednesday for another update.