The Bubble by the Numbers
--31 Automatic Bids. That number will not change this season.
--34 At-Large Bids. That also is a static number.
--18 teams are in fantastic shape. They are listed as "virtual locks" in lower case black font in the Lockbox. Nine of them are conference leaders. That means that nine At-Large bids are virtual locks at this point. It is hard to imagine any of these teams missing even with several games to go. This could change, but most if not all of these teams are not going anywhere.
--Some of the "projected in, but need more validation teams" either moved up to virtual locks or slid back onto the Bubble this week. I have 15 teams listed in blue this week. One of those is a conference leader. With the "virtual locks" added to this group, that accounts for 23 At-Large bids that are not "bubble slots." Hence, 11 slots are up for grabs.
--The Bubble Boys who made it in are in green and those left out are in red in the Lockbox.
Tonight's GOI
--Texas Tech at Baylor. Raiders have a new coach, and need to start piling up some wins.
--Maryland at Boston College. Terps could solidify themselves a bit and BC needs this one badly to keep hope alive.
--Charlotte at Dayton. Flyers need to right the ship, but 49ers are not dead either. There's a lot at stake in this one.
--Saint Joseph's at Duquesne. Tough roadie for Hawks.
--Vanderbilt at Georgia. 'Dores are 0-4 in SEC road games.
--Florida State at Miami-FL. Both fighting for their lives.
--Duke at North Carolina. Heels can draw into a tie and have a leg up in the tie-breaker with a win. Duke can put UNC two games back.
--Texas at Oklahoma. Both jockeying for seeding.
--Notre Dame at Seton Hall. Two of the hotter Big East teams of late.
--UConn at Syracuse. Orange could use a big win. UConn is now trying to contend for a top 3 NCAA seed.
