Weekend Setup

The Bubble Machine:

Below is a list of my final 13 teams on my board right now. They are in order: UMass, Oklahoma, Purdue, Miami (FL), UConn (all in), Providence, Arkansas, NC State, Boston College, Syracuse, St. Joseph's, Illinois State, Creighton.

As for the cases here: UMass and Oklahoma (despite odd league records) have wonderful wins on their resumes. For UMass, they have six top-100 wins but have lost twice to St. Joe's. Those two St. Joe wins, though, are the Hawks only top-100 wins. The Sooners have Arkansas, West Virginia, Gonzaga and Texas Tech. However, they teeter on the edge and a loss at Baylor on Saturday would probably move them off the board as they would be 1-3 in the Big 12.

Purdue's league record gets them in at this point. Remember the committee really looks at conference record. This should sort itself out, because their RPI of 76 and SOS of 149 are legit. Their only true good resume win outside of the league is a banged up Louisville team. They lost to Wofford and Iowa State.


Miami and UConn get in as the lesser of evils. The Huskies just edge out Providence, because of a few more good wins and the Friars home loss to Seton Hall on Thursday. A win for the Friars would have probably turned the table. The Hurricanes have some very good wins (Marist, VCU, Providence, Mississippi State and Georgia Tech) that make up for the head-to-head loss to NC State. Syndey Lowe's bunch is watching right now because of losses to New Orleans and South Carolina.

The Watch
Connecticut @ Indiana: A resume builder for the Huskies and a possible step towards the second line for Kelvin Sampson's red-hot Hoosiers.

Washington St. @ Arizona St.: An interesting Pac-10 showdown. Both teams in bounce back mode after Thursday losses. For the Cougars, a chance to stay on the second line, for Arizona State, a chance for another quality win for a shaky RPI team.

Va. Tech @ Boston College: A must win for Boston College's hopes.

Stanford @ California: The Bears have been a stubborn bunch to Trent Johnson so far, but the Cardinal are slowly beginning to look like a team that may get to play in Anaheim if they keep winning. A road win would help the cause.

Gonzaga @ Memphis: I love that Mark Few will play anybody. This will certainly be a test. No major bracket implications, but the Tigers need a win to keep hold of the an overall number one seed.

Mississippi @ Mississippi State: Who knew basketball's Egg Bowl could be so big. The teams will meet again, but this is a big test for the Bulldogs. Ole Miss has had a slow start to league play, but Andy Kennedy's squad has enough resume builders that it should be safe, for now.

Texas A&M @ Oklahoma State: Mark Turgeon is earning his paycheck. It's possible the Aggies could go from ranked to out in Monday's bracket. The Aggies need to bounce back off of the five overtime loss to Baylor.

USC @ Oregon: After squandering a late lead to UCLA, the Ducks desparately need a win having lost three in a row. The Trojans have won three straight (two on the road) since starting Pac-10 play 0-3.

Dayton @ Richmond: Can the Spiders bounce back on the road after getting pounded by rival Xavier.

Notre Dame @ Villanova: They are all big in the middle of the Big East.

Sunday
Vanderbilt @ Florida: Oh, what Billy Donovan and his RPI in the 50s wouldn't give for a big win against the Commodores. Kevin Stallings bunch could use a decent road win, too.

Duke @ Maryland: The Blue Devils are in line for the top line if they can win at Maryland. The Terps will have everyone wondering how they lost to American if they can pull off consecutive wins against the UNC and Duke.

Xavier @ UMass: If the Muskies have any desire to be a top-four seed, they need quality road wins. Here is there chance.