Bracketology 2024: Bubble Watch Updates of key teams in late February

Providence (18-9) (NET: 55)
5-6 (Q1), 3-3 (Q2), 0-0 (Q3), 10-0 (Q4)

Making their own case for inclusion in the Big Dance, Providence has now accumulated five Quad 1 wins. That number includes home wins over Wisconsin, Marquette, and Creighton and grew this past week when they won on the road against Xavier, avenging a dreadful performance from earlier in January.

None of the Quad 2 losses are really crushing blows. The Friars lost to Kansas State way earlier in the year and fell at home to both Seton Hall and Xavier. They had a few tough outings, including a 20-point loss to Xavier, but nothing that really ruins their resume.

The Friars will hope that their NET rises further, though this current three-game winning streak helps with that. There are a plethora of Big East teams jockeying for position in the Big Dance, but the Friars have at least been putting their best foot forward in recent weeks. That effort gets much harder with a road trip to Marquette, while the regular season ends at home against UConn.

Seton Hall (18-9) (NET: 61)
5-5 (Q1), 3-2 (Q2), 2-2 (Q3), 8-0 (Q4)

There have been no shortage of resume-building chances in Big East play and Seton Hall has taken advantage on many occasions. They still boast a very impressive win over UConn and have added Quad 1 wins over the likes of Marquette, Providence, and Butler. Each of their last three wins have come over fellow bubble teams in the league.

Having two Quad 3 losses isn’t great right now, though neither is exactly a nightmare. The Pirates lost in San Diego to USC back in November and were upended by Rutgers just a few weeks after that. Since then a home loss to Providence has been their only non-Quad 1 loss in conference play.

As mentioned before, the Pirates have won three straight games and they all came over teams they are fighting with on the bubble. This clearly has Seton Hall feeling good even with their NET sitting down at 61. They needed those wins because next week will be ruthless with road games at Creighton and Connecticut; it’s going to be an important and difficult week for these Pirates.