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Bubble Banter: Virginia Tech is dancing

Duke University v Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, VA - FEBRUARY 26: Virginia Tech Hokies head coach Buzz Williams tries to excite fans in the second half during the game against the Duke Blue Devils at Cassell Coliseum on February 26, 2018 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Lauren Rakes/Getty Images)

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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 Monday.

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

VIRGINIA TECH (RPI: 47, KenPom: 31, NBC seed: 8): Virginia Tech is in. They were probably going to be in regardless of whether or not they beat Duke at home on Monday night. But ... they beat Duke at home on Monday night. They now have wins over Duke, North Carolina and at Virginia, which is quite literally the best win that anyone can get this season.

MARQUETTE (RPI: 63, KenPom: 53, NBC seed: Next four out): Marquette flirted with disaster, but disaster couldn’t seal the deal, meaning that the Golden Eagles avoided losing to DePaul and Georgetown in back-to-back games. I still think Marquette is pretty far away from the bubble at this point. Not only is Saturday’s home game against Creighton a must-win, but they are going to have to win at least a game or two in the Big East tournament if they really, truly what to be in the mix for a bid on Selection Sunday.

LOSERS

TEXAS (RPI: 57, KenPom: 44, NBC seed: Play-in game): Texas lost their 13th game on Monday night, but it came without Mo Bamba and it came at Kansas. So I’m not sure just how much that loss is going to hurt the Longhorns, which is interesting. The Longhorns are now 17-13 on the season, but they are 5-10 against Quadrant 1 and 8-13 against the top two Quadrants. Put another way, they’ve play a ton of really good teams and beaten some of them. For that to be enough to earn a trip to the NCAA tournament, Ithink Texas needs to win a least two more games, including West Virginia at home on Saturday.