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BUBBLE BANTER: Cincinnati’s critical win may be enough to get a bid

Octavius Ellis

Cincinnati’s Octavius Ellis celebrates after their NCAA college basketball game against SMU, Sunday, March 6, 2016, in Cincinnati. Cincinnati won 61-54. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

AP

Cincinnati (KenPom: 31, RPI: 52, CBT Bracketology Seed: Play-in Game) picked up a critical win on Sunday afternoon, knocking off No. 24 SMU in Fifth-Third Arena to land their best win of the season, without question. The Bearcats entered the weekend sitting squarely on the bubble -- they were in the play-in game in the most recent NBC Sports Bracketology -- and with everyone else around them losing games, this is unquestionably huge for the Bearcats.

Does it put them into lock status?

I’m not so sure. They still only have two top 50 wins, and if they lose in the first round of the AAC tournament they’ll most likely have two sub-100 losses; the bottom of their conference is not good. But what this win does is mean that they may actually have the breathing room to take an early loss and survive.

WINNERS

UConn (KP: 32, RPI: 53, CBT: 11): UConn didn’t lose on Sunday to UCF, which would have been the kind of damaging loss that they would not be able to overcome. I still think the Huskies have some work to do to ensure they get into the field, as is the case with every single team in the American.

Temple (KP: 90, RPI: 56, CBT: 12): The Owls picked off Tulane on Sunday, meaning they avoided a landmine loss. Like UConn, Temple cannot afford an early loss in the AAC tournament.