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

Cincinnati (16-11) (NET: 45)
4-7 (Q1), 1-2 (Q2), 2-2 (Q3), 9-0 (Q4)

Cincinnati has picked up four Quad 1 wins in conference play, with some impressive performances in their first season in the Big 12. Wins at BYU and Texas Tech aged well, while the Bearcats have also swept UCF and knocked off TCU.

There’s been trouble outside of that, namely Quad 3 losses at West Virginia and this past week at home to Oklahoma State. The Bearcats were also beaten by 18 points in their rematch with TCU This weekend on a day where they really needed a different result. None of the nonconference losses were terrible at least.

Their NET is slowly sinking, reflecting a Cincinnati team that has won just three of their last ten games. Cincinnati is easing into a much more difficult conference in the Big 12, but time might be running out to get back to the Big Dance. Huge opportunities await at Houston and Oklahoma, with the Bearcats desperately needing to make a statement.

Colorado (18-9) (NET: 34)
1-5 (Q1), 7-4 (Q2), 3-0 (Q3), 7-0 (Q4)

An unfortunate consequence of a poor Pac-12 is that the Buffaloes’ lone Quad 1 win came at Washington just over a month ago. They’ve had a handful of Quad 2 opportunities and looked great this past weekend, winning by 24 points against Utah, but have they done enough?

There’s nothing too dire about the losses for Colorado, even if they’d rather have a few of them back. They lost away from home against Arizona State, California, Florida State, and UCLA and could’ve avoided at least a couple of those dud performances.

That win over the Utes was Colorado’s second in a row and cements their momentum back in the right direction. This team was trending towards missing the Big Dance, with a recent 1-4 stretch. Now, the Buffaloes are back on track and have winnable games next week before an important Quad 1 matchup at Oregon.