Bubble Watch: March 10

Yesterday's second round of the Big East tournament could have seen South Florida and Seton Hall both advance and continue their hopes of making the NCAA Tournament but that did happen thanks to a twenty point win by Georgetown over South Florida and Notre Dame beating the Pirates 68-56 thanks to 20 points from Luke Harangody. This takes both teams off the bubble and out of the tournament and along with Charlotte in A-10, who lost to UMass in the 1st Round, have opened up some spots for other bubble teams to slide into the field of 65.

Teams Locked In:
ACC: Duke, Maryland, Virginia Tech
A-10: Temple, Xavier, Richmond
Big East: Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Louisville, Pitt, Marquette
Big 10: Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan State, Wisconsin
Big 12: Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas
C-USA: UTEP, Memphis
Mountain West: BYU, New Mexico
Pac-10: Cal
SEC: Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
WCC: Gonzaga
Right now, these 32 teams will be in the NCAA Tournament, if all teams in these conferences, with the exception of Gonzaga who lost Monday to St. Mary's, win their respective tournaments eleven spots will be open to bubble teams.

Teams on the Bubble:
ACC: Florida State, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Wake Forest
First round play begins in the ACC today and Wake, Clemson, and Georgia Tech need to win their games. That would set up a quarterfinal elimination game between the Seminoles and Tigers, with the Demon Deacons needing to beat Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech to beat Maryland. If Maryland beats the Yellow Jackets, the winner of the potential FSU/Clemson game would be in with a win over the Terps, the same is the case if Wake knocks off Virginia Tech and then Duke in the semis.
A-10: Saint Louis, Rhode Island, Dayton
With Charlotte playing themselves out of the bubble with a loss at home to UMass in the A-10 first round, three teams remain on the bubble. Saint Louis and Rhode Island play Friday in the quarters in an elimination game. Dayton got back on the bubble with Charlotte's loss and with a win over Xavier in the quarters and a win over Richmond in the semis, the Flyers will be in a good position to get in.
Big East: Cincinnati
There is a very slight possibility that the Bearcats can make the big dance but that is why they call this month March Madness. By beating Louisville last night and with losses by South Florida and Seton Hall, the Bearcats are the only team that could make the Big East get nine teams in. To get in, a win over the Mountaineers is needed as well as a semifinal win against either Notre Dame or Pitt. Mick Cronin's team does have two big wins this year against Vandy and Maryland but lost to fellow bubble team UAB.
Big 10: Illinois
The formula is simple for the Illini: Beat Wisconsin in the Big 10 quarterfinals and they're in. Lose to Wisconsin and pray that other bubble teams lose.
Big 12: Missouri, Oklahoma State
Missouri's loss to Nebraska took them out of lock contention and put Texas in as a lock after the Longhorns beat Iowa State. The Cowboys beat interstate rival Oklahoma yesterday, and with a win over Kansas State and a win over either Baylor or Texas in the semis could put them in over Mizzou. Missouri just has to sit back and wait at this point. With wins over Illinois and Oklahoma State, if both of those teams lose their next game, the Tigers should be in, if not they have to play the waiting game.
C-USA: UAB
The Blazers open C-USA tourney play against Southern Miss today and need to win that game and beat Memphis in the semis to have a good chance of getting in. They do boast a win over Butler on their resume, but they were also swept by both UTEP and Memphis, the two top teams in C-USA.
Mountain West: UNLV, San Diego State
Both teams have to win their quarterfinal game and beat either New Mexico or BYU in their respective semifinal games to get in. UNLV is in better shape with two wins over the top two compared to the Aztecs' one and they beat Louisville earlier in the season.
Pac-10: Arizona State, Washington
Getting three teams into the big dance from the Pac-10 will not happen so the second bid will come down to the semifinal matchup between the Sun Devils and Huskies. For this to happen, Arizona State needs to get past Stanford and Washington has to beat Oregon State. The winner of the semifinal game will get the second bid if it is over the other bubble team.
SEC: Florida, Mississippi State, Ole Miss
The situation is simple for Florida and Mississippi State and that is to beat the other team in the SEC quarterfinals. Florida plays Auburn in the first round tommorrow and if they advance to play the Bulldogs, the winner will still be alive for a tournament bid but a win over Vandy in the semifinals would be a big help to a team's chances. Ole Miss needs hope Tennessee wins their first round game against LSU and then beat the Vols in quarters and Kentucky in the semis to be in the bubble conversation.

Bubble Teams That Should Be In:
Illinois, Missouri, UNLV, UAB, Arizona State, Saint Louis, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Clemson, Mississippi State