Lockbox has been updated. I added these teams as LOCKS:
Clemson, Duke, Kansas, Louisville, Villanova, Marquette
Lockbox updates will happen much more frequently from here on in as teams sort themselves out down the stretch.
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.
--27 teams are LOCKS or listed in black. The black teams could miss, but at this stage it would be extremely surprising if they did. It would take a real meltdown to miss at this stage.
--I have 7 other teams listed in blue, which means they are on their way, but still have a little work to do. Of these 34 black and blue teams, 11 are conference leaders. That means 23 at-large slots look fairly secure at this stage.
--Hence, the Bubble stands at 11 slots right now. That's the same last week. This will shrink over the coming days, and on Selection Sunday it is usually no more than four or five. Teams in green are Bubble-IN and those in red are Bubble-OUT.
Last Night's GOI
--at Boston College 72, Florida State 67. Eagles are in nice shape now. They clinched .500 in the ACC and have two winnable games left.
--at LSU 81, Florida 75. Gators would be wise to win 2/3 here at the end.
--Texas A&M 57, at Nebraska 55. Aggies committed absolute theft at Nebraska. They trailed by 18 on two different occasions in the 2nd half, but a furious late rally capped by a 3-pt buzzer beater killed the Huskers and keeps the Aggies on the good side of the Bubble.
--at Ohio State 73, Penn State 59. Buckeyes are in good position. Penn State remains right smack on the Bubble.
--at Providence 81, Pitt 73. Teams high in popularity polls falter on command. Friars have new life.
--BYU 69, at San Diego State 59. 2nd half demolition by the Cougars.
--Syracuse 87, at St. John's 58. Orange calm the Storm--both the Johnnies and their own.
Tonight's GOI
--Virginia Tech at Clemson. Hokies need to make some hay late.
--Northwestern at Indiana. Cats probably need to win out or make a deep tourney run at this stage.
--UConn at Marquette. 2/3 of the 2-loss Big East teams.
--Duke at Maryland. Terps made a huge jump by beating UNC and they owe Duke for an absolute embarrassment in Cameron earlier in the season.
--Kansas State at Missouri. K-State is very much alive, but they need some beefy wins.
--Dayton at Rhode Island. URI has played well as of late. Flyers will need a good game to get a win in this roadie.
--Kentucky at South Carolina. HUGE game with massive Bubble and SEC East title implications.
--UNLV at Utah. UNLV needs it a lot more.
