ESPN Bubble Watch

[jcal2001]

College Basketball Bubble Watch - The great Bubble Watch adventure begins - NCAA Men's Basketball - ESPN

"Iowa State [15-6 (5-3), RPI: 47, SOS: 75] Hilton Magic is back. That was the common refrain after Iowa State upset Kansas, easily the biggest win in the program's recent history and one that will have Cyclones fans -- so desperate for a return to basketball boom times -- more than thrilled with The Mayor Fred Hoiberg's work in just his second season in Ames. But is it enough to get the Clones to the dance? The jury is still very much out. Saturday's win was a good one, but it was ISU's first victory against top-50 competition; the Cyclones are 2-6 against teams ranked in the RPI top 100. It was great start, but there's plenty more work to do. Tuesday's home game with K-State is huge."

 

[MNCyGuy]

College Basketball Bubble Watch - The great Bubble Watch adventure begins - NCAA Men's Basketball - ESPN

"Iowa State [15-6 (5-3), RPI: 47, SOS: 75] Hilton Magic is back. That was the common refrain after Iowa State upset Kansas, easily the biggest win in the program's recent history and one that will have Cyclones fans -- so desperate for a return to basketball boom times -- more than thrilled with The Mayor Fred Hoiberg's work in just his second season in Ames. But is it enough to get the Clones to the dance? The jury is still very much out. Saturday's win was a good one, but it was ISU's first victory against top-50 competition; the Cyclones are 2-6 against teams ranked in the RPI top 100. It was great start, but there's plenty more work to do. Tuesday's home game with K-State is huge."

Seems about right. The tourney is a legitimate possibility, but we need to turn a few of our "could wins" into just WINS.

 

[jcal2001]

Interesting that the Big 12 has the most "locks" out of the major conferences at this point. Although, after that, there are none that "should be in" (most likely will be there by the end). There are only teams with "work left to do": Kansas St, Iowa St, Oklahoma, and Texas. Seems fair.

 

[CloneState1028]

Where do they take the SOS from? Because on RPI sites our strength of schedule is 60.

 

[Judoka]

Can't disagree. Right now we could as easily play our way into being a 5 seed as we could fall into an NIT invite. This team has lots of potential but has to live up to it.

 

[LegendofRodA]

I love how the PAC 12 not only doesn't have any "locks" but they don't even have a "should be in"...what a pathetic league.

 

[jcal2001]

Thought I'd continue to update this thread:

College Basketball Bubble Watch - UConn continues to be a riddle wrapped up in an enigma - NCAA Men's Basketball - ESPN

"Iowa State [17-6 (7-3), RPI: 35, SOS: 61] After Saturday's 77-70 win at Oklahoma, Fred Hoiberg's upstart Cyclones are now 7-3 in Big 12 play and have won five of their past six. The strength-of-schedule numbers may be a drag on this team's at-large bid ascendancy, but the top-40 RPI is useful, and when your worst loss is at Drake (where Wichita State also lost) on the first weekend of the season -- and you beat Kansas and Kansas State at home in a four-day span -- you're in decent, if not entirely safe, bubble position."

 

[Knownothing]

I love how the PAC 12 not only doesn't have any "locks" but they don't even have a "should be in"...what a pathetic league.

Colorado is in 3rd. Did Colorado ever get past about 7th in the big 12.

 

[cygrads]

Forget the bubble - keep winning a conf championship is not out of reach! I had some kool aid with my lunch :yes:.

 

[cyclones500]

Thought I'd continue to update this thread:

College Basketball Bubble Watch - UConn continues to be a riddle wrapped up in an enigma - NCAA Men's Basketball - ESPN

"Iowa State [17-6 (7-3), RPI: 35, SOS: 61] After Saturday's 77-70 win at Oklahoma, Fred Hoiberg's upstart Cyclones are now 7-3 in Big 12 play and have won five of their past six. The strength-of-schedule numbers may be a drag on this team's at-large bid ascendancy, but the top-40 RPI is useful, and when your worst loss is at Drake (where Wichita State also lost) on the first weekend of the season -- and you beat Kansas and Kansas State at home in a four-day span -- you're in decent, if not entirely safe, bubble position."

I'm elated just to see ISU included in these bubble watch things after years of reading about other teams.

 

[jbindm]

The resident expert over at cnnsi.com is saying pretty much the same thing:

All hope not lost for UConn on road to NCAA tournament - Andy Glockner - SI.com

Things look good, but we need a couple more "good wins" to nail it down. Splitting the series with Baylor and a road win over Mizzou or K State would probably do the trick.

 

[CloneIce]

The resident expert over at cnnsi.com is saying pretty much the same thing:

All hope not lost for UConn on road to NCAA tournament - Andy Glockner - SI.com

Things look good, but we need a couple more "good wins" to nail it down. Splitting the series with Baylor and a road win over Mizzou or K State would probably do the trick.

Also, note his discussion at the beginning of just how weak the bubble is this year. Lots of teams with under.500 conference records still in play. Just take care of business and we'll be sitting pretty.

 

[Icky_Mettle]

Colorado is in 3rd. Did Colorado ever get past about 7th in the big 12.

1997 3rd
2003 6th
2004 4th
2006 5th
2011 5th

 

[Wesley]

NCAA College Basketball Standings - CBSSports.com

Colorado is second and may win the conference. USC is 1-10. Do they need Tim Floyd back?

 

[Wesley]

The resident expert over at cnnsi.com is saying pretty much the same thing:

All hope not lost for UConn on road to NCAA tournament - Andy Glockner - SI.com

Things look good, but we need a couple more "good wins" to nail it down. Splitting the series with Baylor and a road win over Mizzou or K State would probably do the trick.

The way it will work for college real rpi is we need four-five more wins through tournament and they should be against the bottom feeder teams. Anything with a win against a higher rpi team will be bonus at this point. Texas went 1-5 and went up 7 notches in Kenpom. Just need to beat everyone ranked lower than us. Need the game tonight....

 

[jcal2001]

College Basketball Bubble Watch - Yes, it's a cliche but the Bubble is soft - NCAA Men's Basketball - ESPN

"Iowa State [18-8 (8-5), RPI: 39, SOS: 58] Iowa State had a chance to catch a seemingly vulnerable Baylor team off guard Monday night, but the Cyclones came up short in Waco. Last week's loss at Oklahoma State wasn't great, but it isn't a bubble-killer. Still, it did add a sub-100 loss to the mix, and the Cyclones would do well to avoid any letdowns to Oklahoma and Texas Tech at home before season-ending games at Kansas State and Missouri and at home versus Baylor."

 

[Sloup]

That's fair. Going 3-2 to finish the year would get us the hallowed 11-7 conference record. Take care of business and then take one from @KSU, @Mizzou, or Baylor.