Saturday's Bubble Rooting Guide
Hi all! Been sharing some updates from Joe Lunardi over at ESPN this week and today is obviously a big day with a LOT of teams in action. Here's Joe's latest bracket update from yesterday:
For today's games we're rooting for:
- Georgia to beat Florida. This is a tough ask but it's a decent rivalry and on Georgia's home court.
- UNC vs. NC State. This is kind of an interesting one. We're competing with UNC for a spot and they beat us, so we could use some help if we're going to jump them. Obviously, them winning helps our SOS. I'm thinking we root for them to lose.
- Virginia Tech to beat Miami. Miami is just above us in the bubble scenarios. Virginia Tech is much further down. Honestly either way probably helps us a touch but we're likely wanting VT in this one.
- San Diego to beat San Francisco. In the battle for California, San Francisco is just behind us in the bubble order. We want San Diego in this one.
- Northern Iowa to beat Loyola. If Loyola loses this game, it's pretty much guaranteed the Missouri Valley Conference is a one-bid conference. This is a big one.
- Texas Tech to beat TCU. TCU is another team just behind us on the bubble. The more losses for them the better.
- Rutgers to beat Wisconsin. We just beat Rutgers, we want the win and the loss to them to look as good as possible. Also, fuck Wisconsin.
- Louisville to beat Wake Forest. Wake is a bit ahead of us on the bubble. This loss could allow us to pass them.
- Providence to beat Creighton. Our resume is very similar to Creighton's. The more losses for Creighton the better.
- USC to beat Oregon. Oregon got a big win over UCLA this week. We need their momentum stopped so they don't jump us.
Sorry I know that's a lot but wanted folks to have a good idea of what we're looking at today. Go Blue!
February 26th, 2022 at 11:45 AM ^
And speaking for myself, I'm 100% rooting for Purdue to beat MSU.
February 26th, 2022 at 11:58 AM ^
Thanks for the update
February 26th, 2022 at 12:03 PM ^
Appreciate the rooting list. Gives me more reasons to stay at the Back Lot and have a few more beers. 🍻👨🍳
February 26th, 2022 at 12:22 PM ^
Also fuck Wisconsin. I think that Wagner wrote that.
Also, Jaden Ivey's decided he's going to go for 50 today, and he doesn't care if his teammates get zero; whether they win or not isn't important, either.
February 26th, 2022 at 12:22 PM ^
We don't want rutgers to beat wisconsin from a bubble perspective, they aren't going to be a quad 1 win given their metrics
February 26th, 2022 at 12:42 PM ^
Emotions aside, you want Wisconsin to win this, if Rutgers wins they'd be off the bubble and safely in, they have a boatload of good wins, but do have some questionable losses, but with a win over Wisc, they'd be in.
February 26th, 2022 at 12:52 PM ^
@Monk and @ak47, I do agree on the risks of a Rutgers win but me personally, I'm willing to take that risk. I'd be hard-pressed to root for Wisconsin in a hoops game every again. But pulling emotions out of it, I think you're right that we likely want Wisconsin to win.
February 26th, 2022 at 12:56 PM ^
The RAC advantage is real! #13 Wisconsin, with a 22-5 record, is a three point dog at unranked 16-11 Rutgers.
February 26th, 2022 at 1:21 PM ^
at the risk of "Lincoln shot" did the ability to reply to individual posts go away or am I just not seeing it? Anyway, if Rutgers wins today, they're 11-7 and probably go 1-1 vs IU and PSU to finish 12-8. At 12-8 in the big ten, Rutgers is in, as they should be.
February 26th, 2022 at 1:33 PM ^
The Bracket Project’s Bracket Matrix hasn’t been updated since February 24, but some of their highest ranked bracketologists have updated their brackets since then.
Top-ranked bracketologist Crazy Sports Dude updated his bracket on February 25, giving Michigan an 11-seed and Rutgers and Indiana 12-seeds. His last four in are North Carolina, Indiana, Rutgers and Memphis.
I’m thinking that a UNC-Indiana First Four game in Dayton would be like NCAA Hoops Tournament Classic that could be played for the Dean Smith-Bobby Knight Trophy.
NOTE: Joe Lunardi is ranked 55th on the list of bracketologists who’ve made their predictions to The Bracket Project for at least three season. He hasn't updated his bracket since 7:00 AM on February 25, but he's got Michigan (10-seed) playing Marquette (7-seed) in another NCAA Hoops Tournament Classic in the opening round for the Steve Fisher-Al McGuire Trophy.
February 26th, 2022 at 2:19 PM ^
Only sparty can lead by 3 with 0.4 seconds left and manage to throw the ball directly out of bounds on an inbounds pass. I have seen some idiocy in my days, but that is something special.
February 26th, 2022 at 3:01 PM ^
Not sure if we want Rutgers to beat Wisconsin as they are one of teams on the wrong side of the bubble and we are barely on the other side of the fence.
I also think it's one of those weird years where the bubble doesn't effect the math much for us. We have a shaky won-loss record but our SOS is great.
3 more wins total probably gets us in, 2 does not. JMO.
February 26th, 2022 at 3:22 PM ^
We definitely want Wisconsin, not Rutgers. Rutgers is just ahead of us on the bubble and our win over them is not gonna get to a quad 1 as their NET is in the 80s
February 26th, 2022 at 4:16 PM ^
We just had a game go quite favorably! LaSalle pulled off a huge upset and beat Dayton! LaSalle was 7-18 heading into the game and that almost certainly makes the A-10 a one bid league.
Huge game for the bubble!
February 26th, 2022 at 6:09 PM ^
Is Wisconsin becoming the new Notre Dame?
February 27th, 2022 at 12:44 AM ^
Another big one in the late games. USC and Oregon went back to back the entire game but USC pulled it out by 1 and Oregon stays behind us in the bubble order!
Lets do our part tomorrow! Go Blue!
February 27th, 2022 at 12:54 AM ^
Saturday Night Live's Czechoslovakian Festrunk Brothers might call Saturday, February 26, 2022, the most WILD AND CRAZY day in NCAA basketball history. Brackets will be scrambling after Saturday's results.
Just past 12:50 AM EST on February 27, yesterday was a day when seven lower-ranked and unranked teams won at home over ranked teams, including losses for the top six ranked teams. Top-ranked Gonzaga lost 67-57 at Saint Mary’s (23). Arizona (2) was trounced 79-63 at unranked Colorado. Tennessee (17) beat Auburn (3) 67-62. Purdue (4) lost 68-65 at unranked Michigan State. With ESPN’s College Game Day crew in attendance, Baylor (10) beat Kansas (5) 80-70. Arkansas (18) beat Kentucky (6) 75-73. Unranked TCU beat Texas Tech (9) 69-66.
Elsewhere among ranked teams, Texas (20) barely escaped at 14-15 West Virginia, 82-81. Murray State (19) had to rally at 13-17 Southeast Missouri State to win 70-68. Southern Cal (16) got a deep three-pointer with under 12 seconds to play to win 70-69 at unranked bubble hopeful Oregon.
As for Michigan's competitors among the Big Ten's Bubble Teams:
Having lost three straight after four consecutive wins over ranked teams, Rutgers might be playing itself out of the NCAA Tournament and they could look back at their loss in Crisler on February 23 as what might've been their NCAA play-in game. Although they can't finish worse than 10-10 in Big Ten games before the Big Ten Tournament, Rutgers is now 16-12 overall, but they're 5-6 since beating Iowa on January 19 and their NET ranking as of February 25 was 83. They finish at Indiana and are hosting Penn State before the Big Ten Tournament.
Indiana (17-10, 8-9 in Big Ten) has to win at Minnesota on Sunday and beat Rutgers at home on Wednesday to guarantee that they'll finish no worse than 10-10 in the Big Ten. They're at Purdue for their final game before the Big Ten Tournament. Since beating Purdue at home 68-65 on January 20, Indiana is 3-6. Their NET ranking as of February 25 was 42.
In other games that True Blue 9 considered important for Michigan:
Florida won at Georgia 84-72. UNC jumped out to a 46-29 halftime lead and held on to win at NC State 84-74. Virginia Tech eked out a 71-70 win at Miami. San Francisco won big at San Diego 78-62. Northern Iowa won 102-96 at home over Loyola in overtime to take the lead in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. Wake Forest easily handled visiting Louisville 99-77. Providence beat Creighton at home 72-51.