Bracketology 2022: Updates, upsets, teams to watch on Friday, March 11

We’re getting to the nitty gritty of championship week in college basketball and with just two days to go until Selection Sunday, a handful of teams find themselves within arm’s reach of their respective league championship game.

Thursday brought tons of action across the nation with a few teams possibly seeing their NCAA Tournament dreams dashed while others kept theirs alive. Today’s action is bound to bring more drama as we enter a pressure cooker of a weekend.

Yesterday’s bubble watch

• Indiana 74, Michigan 68: This second-round matchup could’ve been also billed as a de-facto elimination game for the NCAA Tournament and the Hoosiers came out on top. IU will try to bolster its resume this afternoon against Illinois, while Michigan’s status for The Big Dance is now a huge question mark.
• Virginia Tech 87, Notre Dame 80: The Hokies kept hope alive with a victory over the Fighting Irish, and will now face North Carolina in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. A win here and a trip to the ACC Championship Game would almost guarantee VPI getting its named called on Sunday.
• Oklahoma 72, Baylor 67: OU wasn’t even being considered aa a bubble team heading into the Big 12 Tournament but an upset of the reigning national champions has caught people’s attention. The Sooners will most likely need to run the table in Kansas City to get to the big dance but if they can knock off Texas Tech this evening, you never know what could happen come Saturday.

Games to watch today

• No. 4 Auburn vs. Texas A&M: The Aggies beat the buzzer in overtime to send Florida home packing on Thursday and will be looking to get off the bubble with a win over top-seeded Auburn in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. Meanwhile, with Baylor falling, there’s an opportunity for Auburn to slide back into one-seed territory for the NCAA Tournament.
• No. 14 Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma: There’s intrigue into seeing how far the Sooners can go and they’ll be faced with another national title hopeful in Texas Tech. We’ll see how this one plays out in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals.

Bubble teams per ESPN’s Joe Lunardi

Last four in - Wyoming, Wake Forest, Xavier, Indiana
First four out - SMU, Dayton, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma
Next four out - BYU, VCU, Virginia, St. Texas A&M

Conference breakdown per ESPN’s Joe Lunardi

Big Ten: 9
Big East: 7
Big 12: 6
SEC: 6
ACC: 5
Mountain West: 4
WCC: 3
Pac-12: 3
American: 2