Bracketology 2024: Latest Bubble Watch of key teams in mid-February
By Joey Loose
St. John’s (14-11) (NET: 46)
2-8 (Q1), 5-2 (Q2), 2-1 (Q3), 5-0 (Q4)
The Quad 1 record shows a lot of opportunities, with the wins coming against Utah in the Charleston Classic and at Villanova in early January. What’s built this resume has been a pair of nice wins over those Wildcats, with the Red Storm also beating bubble teams Xavier, Butler, and Providence at home.
The Quad 3 loss was very early in the year against Michigan and it’s continuing to age really poorly. There’s nothing too notable among the other losses, including Quad 2 defeats to Boston College and Seton Hall. The quantity has been notable, as St. John’s has lost seven of their last nine contests.
The Red Storm are going to have to start winning games to salvage this resume. A home win against Villanova is their only non-DePaul win in the last month and their next two contests are against Quad 3 teams. Not only does St. John’s need to get back on track against a weak schedule to end the season, they might have to beat both Creighton and Butler in the coming weeks.
TCU (17-7) (NET: 42)
3-6 (Q1), 1-1 (Q2), 5-0 (Q3), 8-0 (Q4)
TCU started 7-0 this season, but didn’t get their first Quad 1 win until an upset against Houston on January 13th. They added additional impressive wins later in January, surviving a triple overtime thriller at Baylor and winning at home over Texas Tech. Another nice win came over Oklahoma much earlier in league play.
What’s fortunate is that their only Quad 2 loss was a rough outing against Texas less than two weeks ago. The Horned Frogs haven’t had any really bad performances this season, albeit with double-digit losses in Quad 1 defeats against Nevada and Iowa State.
What hurts TCU is the lack of decent wins from their nonconference slate, while their play against the Big 12 has been up and down. They had close calls against Kansas and Iowa State, but close doesn’t cut it for the Selection Committee. Road tests at Kansas State and Texas Tech are next on the schedule and winning away from home in this league is never easy.