We’re midway through the final week of the 2023-24 college basketball regular season and a handful of conference tournaments are already underway. It’s crunch time for several bubble teams around the country and these are their final opportunities to pad their resumes. We’ll take a look at how Wednesday’s games affected bubble teams’ chances to go dancing in a few weeks.
For reference where teams currently stand in the eyes of bracketology experts, we’ll use the latest brackets of Joe Lunardi of ESPN and Dominic Lese of Bracketometry.com.
Home team in italics
Seton Hall 66, Villanova 56
Wednesday’s Big East bubble showdown featured Seton Hall knocking off Villanova at home. The Pirates were pegged as one of the last four teams in the Big Dance and with this being their sixth Quad 1 win of the season, we can assume that they are safely in at the moment.
Meanwhile, this wasn’t a bad loss for Nova, but it will remain squarely on the bubble with one game left in the regular season. That will be a home showdown on Creighton on Saturday and if the Cats win, their chances to go dancing will increase. If they lose, then they’ll definitely need an impressive showing in the Big East Tournament.
TCU 93, West Virginia 81
TCU was not phased by last-place West Virginia on Wednesday and got the W in Morgantown. The Horned Frogs were in “last four byes” territory according to Lunardi, most likley due to them being 2-10 in Quad 1 games. However, they are undefeated against Quad 2-4 opponents and that should be enough to consider them safe. Just don’t trip up against UCF on Saturday.
Michigan State 53, Northwestern 49
Michigan State was one of Lese’s “last four byes” and it came through with a win against a Northwestern team that has stayed near the top of the Big Ten standings for most of the year. The victory ended a three-game losing streak for the Spartans and with them being ranked 22nd in NET on Wednesday, they should be in the dance … as long as they don’t immediately trip over themselves in the Big Ten Tournament.
Texas A&M 75, Mississippi State 69
Texas A&M downed Mississippi State for its Senior Night and Buzz Williams’ crew is trending back towards the bubble after picking up its seventh Quad 1 win of the season. After dropping five straight, the Aggies have now won two in a row and can continue to get back into the good graces of the selection committee if it keeps this new streak rolling.
Meanwhile, Mississippi State has now dropped three straight and is now trending back down towards the bubble. The Bulldogs will close the season with a tough home matchup against South Carolina on Saturday and if they drop that one, there’s going to be some extra pressure on Clanga heading into the SEC Tournament.
Florida Atlantic 80, North Texas 76
Florida Atlantic was another “last four byes” team that got the job done on Wednesday, taking down North Texas on the road. The Owls should be safe to make the NCAA Tournament and can really add a nice bullet point to their resume with a win over Memphis this Saturday.