I have updated the Lockbox. Welcome your first LOCKS of the 2012 bracket. Many others are just a win away from obtaining this status. In fact, many more are probably there, but LOCK status is not given away flippantly.
The Bubble by the Numbers
--31 Automatic Bids. That number will not change this season. Black italics means a team is the projected auto-bid for that conference.
--37 At-Large Bids (AL). That is also a static number.
--22 AL teams are listed in black (or are LOCKS). LOCKS cannot miss, even if they lost out. The black teams could miss in March, but it will take a total meltdown at this point.
--I have four other AL teams listed in blue, which means they are on their way, but have a bit more work to do. Some of them will solidify and some will slide onto to the Bubble or out of the bracket entirely. I think of these teams this way: if they win they games they "should," they will likely make it at this point.
--That means 25 AL slots are taken, leaving the Bubble at 11 at the moment. Generally, this number will shrink as we head toward Selection Sunday, and that number is down by two from last week. Bubble-IN teams are in green, Bubble-OUT teams are in red.
