Bubble Wrap - Thursday, March 5th

Ok, so we're ten days from Selection Sunday.

These games matter.

All games matter, of course, but these games really matter. Or, at least, they feel like they do.

Either way, this is the last chance for teams to prove they belong in the field of 68.

Last Night's Recap

Miami came away with a huge win at Pittsburgh. Pitt was the team closer to the field going into the game, but the Hurricanes' performance, without their leader, Angel Rodriguez, likely catapults the U ahead of the Panthers and in prime position for further upward movement come ACC Tournament play.

Tulsa had an opportunity to improve their shaky prospects and push Cincinnati close to the brink. But, the Golden Hurricane were again unable to get a much-needed quality win. While Tulsa's RPI remains respectable, there's a reason that is not the case with KenPom, Sagarin, or the BPI.

LSU suffered a very shaky 78-63 home loss to Tennessee, likely erasing all of the goodwill they acquired in their win versus Mississippi over the weekend. The Tigers are easily back in double-digit seed range and cannot afford another bad loss.

Oregon, UCLA, and Illinois all took care of business and avoided bad losses, while Purdue missed a chance to get a resume boosting win at Michigan State.

Tonight's Bubble Games

Temple at East Carolina, 7PM, Greenville, NC, ESPNU - The Owls are one of the tougher teams to evaluate, based on a slew of key absences during the early part of the season. Recently, they have just been plain inconsistent. They cannot afford to lose this game, or they will be on the outside looking in.

Connecticut vs. Memphis, 9PM, Storrs, CT, ESPN - Unbelievably, or believably, UConn is not yet completely out of the picture, though they are close. The Huskies basically have to win out, at least until the AAC Tourney final, in order to have an at-large chance.

Davidson vs. VCU, 9PM, Davidson, NC, ESPNU - This has been a remarkable season for the Wildcats, who are tied for first in the loss column in their first season in the Atlantic 10. They are also currently a tournament team - barely - and a win tonight would likely cement that.

Stanford at Arizona State, 11PM, Tempe, AZ, FS1 - The Cardinal's hopes for an at-large bid were severely damaged due to their home loss to Oregon on Sunday. A loss tonight would almost surely obliterate all hope.


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