Today on General Bubble:
(7:00) Tennessee at Texas A&M (43%) - The Volunteers have been handing out Q1 wins to anyone who needs them: Florida, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Kentucky. Will they do the same again here? Texas A&M has won five in a row and blazed past other bubble teams who are taking one step forward, one step back. A win tonight virtually locks them up despite two Q4 losses.
(7:00) Miami at Virginia Tech (49%) - Put simply the Hokies need this win and a win at Duke on Saturday to have any life at all. I'm ready to drop them off completely with a loss here.
(7:00) Mississippi State (45%) at Missouri - Interesting for both teams but more importantly a Q1 chance for the Bulldogs who are right on the bubble. 3-6 against Q1 looks a lot worse than 4-5 and that's what's at stake here. If Missouri took a loss here it would be their first outside of Q1. That by itself wouldn't put them in any danger but they end the year with three landmines (Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss) and two on the road. If they drop this, lose one of those three, and don't get a win in the SEC tournament then they could easily drop from the 8 line down to Dayton as other schools collect quality wins.
(7:00) Georgia Tech at Pittsburgh (88%) - Georgia Tech has been playing slightly better as of late and if not for a late-game collapse at Wake Forest would have won three in a row (four if you count D-2 Florida Tech, which you shouldn't). They dealt Virginia Tech a big blow, but that was at home. Like Texas A&M, Pitt probably has enough to overcome two Q4 losses -- they've won at Northwestern, at NC State, vs Virginia, vs Miami, and swept NC State. But why tempt fate?
(9:00) Texas Tech (37%) at Oklahoma - As I said yesterday Texas Tech needs to get to 18-13 which means going 3-1 in their final four. Considering one of the games is at Kansas, they'd better win this one. Oklahoma needs to win all four of their remaining games to get to 17-14 and have a puncher's chance.
(9:00) Georgia at Arkansas (89%) - I don't expect any issues here but the Razorbacks can't get caught looking ahead to road games at Alabama and Tennessee up next.
(9:00) Utah State (73%) at Wyoming - Utah State has their finale with Boise State circled as a chance to finally grab a Q1 win, but first they've got to win road games at Wyoming and UNLV. This one shouldn't be too tough as Wyoming is both bad and injured, but the Cowboys did sneak a win over New Mexico.
(10:00) San Jose State at Nevada (80%) - Another Mountain West team that can't afford a loss. The hard part of the Wolf Pack's schedule is done, so they're in survival mode now as none of their four left are against tournament or bubble teams.
Eight games. 5.04 expected wins.
Off the board:
Indiana at Michigan State - A loss here would put the Spartans below .500 in Q1+Q2, plus they have a Q3 loss. They're not in danger of dropping out thanks to six Q1 wins, but worth checking in on for seeding purposes.
Six wins last night so one above the expected. Virginia Tech is the big loser of the night but they were on life support to begin with. Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, and Arkansas all basically locked themselves in, plus Missouri if they were not there already. The two Mountain West teams avoided bad losses. Texas Tech is now in the conversation but I still think they need 2 of their final 3.
Lastly, Mississippi State missed out on a Q1 win that would've really helped. They have one more chance at a Q1 win next time out when they host Texas A&M. I'd highly recommend winning that. If they lose that and win their final two they're still going to be only 3-7 in Q1 and just 4-3 in Q2, with a Q3 loss.
Tonight on Days Of Our Bubble...
(7:00) Kentucky (45%) at Florida - This probability is low because it doesn't account for Colin Castleton's injury for the Gators. Kentucky joins the near-lock club with a Q1 win here.
(7:00) Vanderbilt (55%) at LSU - The Commodores need to make their hay against Florida, Kentucky, and Mississippi State to close the year but they can't get caught sleepwalking here. As a reminder LSU started the year 12-1 with wins over Wake Forest and Arkansas and the loss was a major collapse against Kansas State. They've been brutally bad in SEC play since then but even bad teams can pick off wins like this at home.
(7:00) Syracuse at Clemson (68%) - Clemson is perhaps technically dead at this point but medics are still performing chest compressions. They need to be perfect from here on out which includes upcoming road games at NC State and Virginia. With a 4-0 finish they'd be worthy of a discussion. But it could also all end tonight at the hands of the Orange.
(9:00) North Carolina (73%) at Notre Dame - The Tar Heels' next game at home against Virginia is the Q1 win they desperately need but they've got to get this one first. Notre Dame is horrible so that should not be an issue.
(9:00) Iowa at Wisconsin (51%) - The Badgers are 4-9 in their last 13 games but somehow not only still in the mix, but in the field according to the Bracket Matrix composite right now. This is an important Q2 game for them as they sit at 4-4 in that category. With a loss they'd be under .500 in Q1, under .500 in Q2, and they own a Q3 loss. They wouldn't be fully cooked because their next two are Q1 but they've got to put wins on the board.
(10:30) New Mexico at Boise State - This is as juicy as they get. Boise State is on the 11 line, New Mexico is the first team out at Bracket Matrix. If the Broncos hold serve at home they open up more separation, but if New Mexico goes in at wins it's a third impressive road win (St. Mary's and San Diego State the others) and maybe vaults them over a team like Wisconsin even if the Badgers also win tonight.
Six games, but one is a zero-sum double bubble special. Of the five, there are
2.92 projected wins. Again I think the Kentucky number is off so Vandy and Wisconsin are the big ones to watch, plus the Mountain West game late.
Off the board:
Wake Forest is too far off the radar but they can pick up a second Q1 win at NC State. Probably still not enough to sniff the cut line. Auburn hosts Ole Miss and that would be the kind of loss that drops them down onto the bubble.