There was quite a bit of action on the west coast on Thursday night, as the Pac-12 and the WCC saw their NCAA tournament teams in action.
Here is everything you need to know from the teams that are on the bubble.
WINNERS
BYU (NET: 29, NBC: 11): BYU hit 17 threes on Thursday as they rolled Pacific at home. The Cougars have really good computer numbers, and they do have some quality wins to their name — at Houston (35), Virginia Tech (53) and Utah State (55) on neutrals — but they are just 4-7 against the top two Quads. With games remaining against Saint Mary’s (40) and Gonzaga (4) at home, BYU should be OK if they can get one of those and avoid the landmines.
LOSERS
MINNESOTA (NET: 44, NBC: First four out): Minnesota whiffed on a chance to land a quality road win, falling at Illinois (30). The Golden Gophers don’t really have any bad losses on their resume -- DePaul (58) at home is their only loss outside Quad 1 -- they just have a lot of losses. They’re 11-10 on the season and just 3-9 against Quad 1 opponents. There are also five more Quad 1 games left on their schedule. It’s not easy to be a Big Ten team this season.
WASHINGTON (NET: 46, NBC: Off the bubble): More late-game execution cost the Huskies as they fell to 2-7 in the Pac-12 with a home loss to Arizona (11). The fact that Washington has a neutral court win over Baylor (1) is the only reason they’re still in the conversation here. They’re now 12-10 overall and they have just one Quad 1 and one Quad 2 win, which is equal to the number of Quad 3 losses — UCLA (120) at home and at Cal (149) — they’ve suffered. They’re currently in last place in the Pac-12, two games behind Washington State.
UTAH (NET: 74, NBC: Off the bubble): The Utes missed out on a chance to land a road win at USC (39) as they blew a nine point second half lead. This team is going to be mentioned here because they have beaten Kentucky (22) on a neutral and knocked off BYU (29) at home. They are also 5-5 against the top two quadrants. Now, the key for Larry Krystkowiak is to make up a player that the Utes were missing when they played in Myrtle Beach Invitational so the Selection Committee can overlook losses to Coastal Carolina (196) and Tulane (152).