Wednesday will be a busy, finger-nail biting day for men’s basketball teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble. And there are plenty of them in action.
Auburn, Indiana, West Virginia, Cal and Oklahoma may need more than one win this week to impress the selection committee.
SMU‘s win over Syracuse in the first round of the ACC tournament Tuesday was a must. As was Cincinnati‘s win over Utah in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.
Virginia Tech and Stanford‘s first round losses in the ACC tournament Tuesday pretty much removes them from bubble consideration.
A lot has been made about Auburn’s case. The Tigers (16-15) have to beat Mississippi State in the first round of SEC Tournament play (3 p.m., SECN). If the Tigers lose, they can kiss their at-large hopes goodbye no matter how many times Bruce Pearl says otherwise.
Indiana had a chance at a bubble play-in, but blew it at Ohio State over the weekend. The Hoosiers open Big Ten Tournament play at 6:30 p.m. (BTN) against Northwestern State winner.
Twelve teams have already punched their tournament tickets in Long Island (NEC), Queens (ASUN), High Point (Big South), Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley), Tennessee State (OVC), Furman (SoCon), North Dakota State (Summit League), Troy (Sun Belt), Gonzaga (WCC), Siena (MAAC), Wright State (Horizon) and Hofstra (CAA).
March Madness bracket update: March 11
Last updated: 8 a.m., Wednesday, March 11
* bold means automatic berth clinched.
- Duke, Michigan, Arizona, Florida
- UConn, Houston, Illinois, Michigan State
- Nebraska, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Texas Tech
- Virginia, Alabama, Kansas, Purdue
- Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Arkansas
- St. John’s, Louisville, North Carolina, BYU
- Kentucky, Saint Mary’s, Utah State, Miami (Fla.)
- Villanova, Iowa, Georgia, Saint Louis
- TCU, NC State, UCLA, Clemson
- UCF, Ohio State, Missouri, Texas A&M
- Santa Clara, Miami (Ohio), VCU/Texas, SMU/Indiana
- Northern Iowa, Hofstra, Yale, South Florida
- Stephen F. Austin, Utah Valley, Liberty, High Point
- Troy, UC Irvine, North Dakota State, Wright State
- Idaho, Tennessee State, Siena, Furman
- Queens (NC), Long Island, UMBC/Bethune-Cookman, Howard/Lehigh
March Madness last four in
- Texas
- SMU
- VCU
- Indiana
March Madness first four out
- Cincinnati
- West Virginia
- Auburn
- Oklahoma
March Madness next four out
- Virginia Tech
- New Mexico
- Cal
- Stanford
NCAA Tournament bids conference breakdown
Multi-bid leagues: SEC (10), Big Ten (10), ACC (8), Big 12 (8), Big East (3), West Coast (3), Atlantic 10 (2), Mountain West (2).