The Lockbox has been updated. To my eyes, the Bubble looks to be at 10 as of today. It's still more than month until Selection Sunday, so some teams that appear secure could play their way onto the Bubble (thinking here about Minnesota, Xavier, Colorado, Cal, a few others...), but if those teams hold pace, they are likely to get into the bracket. But, while some bold strokes are visible, there are still a lot hoops left.
The Bubble by the Numbers
--32 Automatic Bids. That number will not change this season. Black italics means a team is the projected auto-bid for that conference.
--36 At-Large Bids (AL). That is also a static number.
--Currently, 16 AL teams are listed in black. There are no LOCKS at this stage, though there is a growing list that clearly are going to go dancing. The black teams are in great shape, but it's still early. Some LOCKS are likely to show up next week.
--I have 10 other AL teams listed in blue, which means they could conceivably miss, but I'd be surprised. But, they do have work to do.
--That means 26 AL slots are taken, leaving the Bubble at 10 at the moment. That's down from 12 a week or so ago. Bubble-IN teams are in green, Bubble-OUT teams are in red.
