With the start of conference tournaments (well, two of them), fans of La Salle, Temple and Villanova can start looking over at the other teams on the dreaded bubble.
Here is how those teams did tonight:
Arkansas was blown out of the gym by an impressive Missouri team. With the loss, the Razorbacks probably fall off the bubble for good barring a tremendous run in the SEC tournament.
Southern Miss went into a game with Marshall firmly inside the tournament. With an 88-84 loss to the Thundering Herd, it looks as if the Golden Eagles will probably be outside looking in. The reason? Marshall came into the game with a terrible 210 RPI.
Ohio trailed 69-63, but would hold Buffalo scoreless over the final 3:51 to eventually win 72-69. The Bobcats are on the distant bubble, but with a 22-8 record, the MAC team could win out to the final, lose to Akron and maybe get a bid.
Tuesday bubble watch: Good 4 La Salle, Villanova and Temple if Arkansas, Southern Miss, Ohio, Providence, Alabama & Boise lose. #philahoops
— PhilaHoops (@PhilaHoops) March 5, 2013
Providence defeated Seton Hall 76-66. The Friars are on the distant bubble as well, but a win tonight and against UCONN could springboard them into only having to win a game or two in the Big East tournament to get a bid.
The biggest game was Ole Miss against Alabama. Both teams were right on the cut line, with Joe Lunardi having the Tide as his first team out and the Rebels as his fourth team playing in the NIT. Ole Miss took an 87-83 win.
With the win, Ole Miss would be inside the bubble, with a mediocre LSU team being the lone regular season game for the Rebels. Alabama has a slightly worse Georgia team, but will definitely need to win a game in the SEC tournament as well.
The Philly teams also got encouraging news from a late-night game when UNLV hurt Boise State‘s at-large chances with a 68-64 win over the Broncos.
Joe Fedorowicz
