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Bubble Banter: All of Sunday’s bubble action in one place

Patrick Chambers

Patrick Chambers

AP

As we will do every day throughout the rest of the season, here is a look at how college basketball’s bubble teams fared on Sunday.

It’s worth reminding you here that the way winning are labeled have changed this season. Instead of looking at all top 50 wins equally, the selection committee will be using criteria that breaks wins down into four quadrants, using the RPI:


  • Quadrant 1: Home vs. 1-30, Neutral vs. 1-50, Road vs. 1-75
  • Quadrant 2: Home vs. 31-75, Neutral vs. 51-100, Road vs. 76-135
  • Quadrant 3: Home vs. 76-160, Neutral vs. 101-200, Road vs. 136-240
  • Quadrant 4: Home vs. 161 plus, Neutral vs. 201 plus, Road vs. 240 plus

The latest NBC Sports Bracketology can be found here.

WINNERS

SETON HALL (RPI: 26, KenPom: 40, NBC seed: 9): The Pirates entered Sunday having lost four in a row and seven of their last ten games. They snapped that skid with an 82-77 win over DePaul at home. Their final four games are at Providence, at St. John’s, Villanova and Butler. With a 3-6 record against Quadrant 1, a 6-8 mark against the top two Quadrants and a Quadrant 3 loss, the Pirates are not as comfortable as you might think.

HOUSTON (RPI: 19, KenPom: 19, NBC seed: 8): Houston had a phenomenal week this week, beating Cincinnati at home before going into Philly and knocking off Temple. With six Quadrant 1 wins, the Cougars will no longer be featured in this space.

LOSERS

NEBRASKA (RPI: 60, KenPom: 56, NBC seed: Next four out): Nebraska could not afford another loss in Big Ten play and have a shot at getting into the NCAA tournament. They lost at Illinois on Sunday, a day after everyone on the bubble won. They’re in a bad, bad spot.

TEMPLE (RPI: 45, KenPom: 87, NBC seed: Next four out): The Owls dropped to 15-12 overall on Sunday when they were worked over by Houston at home. That was the last chance Temple was going to have to add a Quadrant 1 win in the regular season. With three Quadrant 3 losses and a Quadrant 4 loss, Temple is going to need to beat two of Cincinnati, Wichita State and Houston in the AAC tournament to have a real chance.

PENN STATE (RPI: 76, KenPom: 27, NBC seed: Out): The Nittany Lions whiffed on a chance to get a win at Purdue, losing by three in a game that they led by nine in the first half. They are now in a tough spot, with just two Quadrant 1 wins and two Quadrant 2 wins and no more resume-building games left on their schedule. They’ll need to do some work in the Big Ten tournament to have a shot.