Bracketology 2024: Bubble Watch Updates of key teams in early March

Iowa (18-12) (NET: 57)
3-8 (Q1), 5-3 (Q2), 4-1 (Q3), 6-0 (Q4)

The Hawkeyes are playing great basketball at the right time of the year. After recent wins against Wisconsin and Michigan State to help build this resume, the Hawkeyes got an upset win at Northwestern this past weekend.

Those three aforementioned games, all within the last three weeks, are the three Quad 1 wins on Iowa’s resume. They’ve picked up a fair share of Quad 2 wins along the way as well, winning over fellow bubble teams like Seton Hall, Ohio State, and Nebraska.

Their December loss against Michigan at home aged really poorly and is currently Quad 3. Outside of that there’s not a lot to hate for the Hawkeyes, though a January stretch that involved close losses to Maryland and Indiana remains quite regrettable.

Winners of four of their last five, Iowa are doing what they can to get into Tourney shape, but the road is certainly not over. They have a great opportunity in their regular season finale against Illinois, a team that beat them less than two weeks ago. Winning that game might get the Hawkeyes into the field, barring a setback in the Big Ten Tournament.

Memphis (22-8) (NET: 71)
3-2 (Q1), 3-3 (Q2), 11-2 (Q3), 5-1 (Q4)

Seemingly dead in the water a few weeks ago, Memphis has played better basketball these last few weeks. A win over Florida Atlantic caught attention and is part of their current 4-game win streak, including a massive comeback win against UAB on Sunday.

Their successful nonconference slate has started to age better, as three-straight wins over VCU, Texas A&M, and Clemson from December all sit at Quad 1. The Tigers then beat Virginia (Quad 2) and have four other wins over power conference foes.

A four-game losing streak in late January punctured the Tigers resume. Losing to South Florida and Tulane resulted in Quad 3 losses, but the real kicker was a Quad 4 home loss to Rice. At least the Tigers have avoided further upset since the end of January.

The Tigers aren’t exactly sitting in a great position, but their resume is an interesting balance between great and terrible. The regular season finale is at Florida Atlantic and upsetting the Owls might be the exact thing to get the Tigers back on the right side of the bubble. They might get two shots at the Owls before the Big Dance.