Bracketology 2023: 8 teams in danger of sliding out of NCAA Tournament

New Mexico Lobos

The Lobos were the last team to lose a game this season, which included wins over Saint Mary’s and SMU. But it was a two-week span of wins over Oral Roberts, Boise State, and a signature road win over San Diego State that had them on the national radar and safely on the bubble.

The problem is that New Mexico had a losing streak that they couldn’t afford to have, with 5 losses in six games. The first three games (Utah State and Nevada (2x) were acceptable but the last two, at Air Force and home vs Wyoming, became anchors to their resume. Those are Quad 3 and 4 defeats, and with an earlier league loss to Fresno State also in the mix, that put them in a bad position.

A win at San Jose State (surprisingly a Quad 2 game) put the Lobos back at .500 in the Mountain West. Even though the conference is good it’s not good enough to get an at-large bid on Selection Sunday. And with a combined four Quad 3/4 defeats, it’s a rough resume for them to make it past others on the bubble.

A 6-3 record against Quad 1/2 foes is keeping them on by a thread and they have games against both Boise State and San Diego State this upcoming week. They’ll need at least one to remain on the bubble and it would be helpful if Jaelen House, who had been out for the past few games, is fully healthy and ready to go.