For as hard as it is to make the NCAA Tournament, it’s really easy to take yourself out of it.
Auburn, one of the most polarizing March Madness bubble candidates, was on the brink of kissing its chances goodbye in the opening round of the SEC tournament. The Tigers were shaken by Mississippi State in the first half with a 10-point deficit, not looking remotely close to a unit that should hear its name called on Selection Sunday.
But to their credit, Auburn recovered and played like its life was on the line. It was a night-and-day performance coming out of halftime with a dominant final 20 minutes to avoid the upset and advance.
Projected to miss the tournament in the latest USA TODAY Sports Bracketology, It’s not a win that will drastically move the 17-15 Tigers into the field. Yet, it wouldn’t be possible without it.
Auburn is as confusing as it comes. You can argue why it should be in with some major wins and tough schedule, or shouldn’t be in with all of the losses. No matter which way you lean, everyone could agree it needs to impress in the SEC tournament. A Quad 3 loss and Auburn would’ve surely been out of consideration. Instead, there is hope.
The work is far from over since a win over the Bulldogs doesn’t move the needle much. However, what’s ahead surely will.
Auburn now has one of the biggest bubble games of the season in the second round against Tennessee. A win over the Volunteers would be monumental and could alter the projected field completely. Advancing to the quarterfinals against Vanderbilt and winning that could silence the critics.
But it has to get Step 1 done first and beat Tennessee. Auburn got a second life to keep its tournament hopes alive, and it cannot waste it as it leads the tournament watch winners and losers from Wednesday’s action.
March Madness bubble winners
NC State
A team trending in the wrong direction, NC State ended the regular season with four straight losses with a couple of ranked beatdowns and bad losses. The Wolfpack weren’t in danger of missing the tournament, but needed to show something to not fall into a possible No. 11 seed situation.
Against Pittsburgh in the ACC tournament second round, early it looked like a devastating Quad 3 loss was on the horizon. However, Will Wade’s offense kept pace and used a strong second half start to avoid the collapse.
It’s not an impressive victory, but one NC State needed to calm the waters. Now there really won’t be a worry for Selection Sunday, and it can just focus on moving up the seed line. It gets a chance against Virginia in the quarterfinals.
Oklahoma
On a night where so many bubble teams faltered, Oklahoma benefits from simply picking up a Quad 3 win.
The Sooners put to rest a sneaky South Carolina team in the second half to stay alive in the SEC tournament. It’s not a victory that is going to boost the resume at all, but mostly, it’s not a loss. With other hopefuls seeing their hopes dashed away with early exits, it’s opened the door for Oklahoma to sneak in after not being in the conversation for much of the season.
Five straight wins results in just being outside the projected bracket, and unlike others, Oklahoma still has a chance to boost its stock. There is a good shot with Texas A&M next. Get that victory and the bubble talk gets even more interesting.
March Madness bubble losers
Indiana
Football had a magical season. Basketball won’t get the chance to do the same.
The Hoosiers suffered another embarrassing loss to Northwestern, completely getting outclassed by the Wildcats in the second half en route to a 13-point loss. Indiana entered the week projected to play in the First Four, but this loss likely means it doesn’t make the field. It lost six of its last seven games and not only is the 3-11 Quad 1 record ugly, but a 3-3 Quad 2 record is likely worse.
Darian DeVries was supposed to bring magic back to Indiana but instead it’s about to miss the tournament the third straight year, which hasn’t happened since Tom Crean’s first years in 2008-11.
Big 12 outside shots
Cincinnati and West Virginia entered the week with a chance to make a late push, both in the first four out. They needed wins Tuesday to keep momentum going, but instead suffered crushing defeats to spoil it.
West Virginia got routed by BYU and Cincinnati had a stunning collapse a stunning collapse against Central Florida. The Bearcats were up by eight with two minutes left and made consistent mistakes to allow the Knights to force overtime, and UCF rode the wave to steal the victory.
The Big 12 has been the strongest conference this season and had a shot to send more teams to the tournament, but the shortcomings will keep the Bearcats and Mountaineers out of the field.
Texas
The Longhorns seemed like a surefire tournament team a few weeks ago but not now after a quick exit in the SEC tournament.
Texas faced a Mississippi team that finished second-to-last in the conference, but it didn’t look like it in a complete domination of the Longhorns for a wire-to-wire win. It was just the latest example of Texas not resembling a tournament team, the fifth loss in the last six games for an uncomfortable 18-14 record.
Not only is it a bunch of losses, but a 1-4 Quad 2 record to go with a 6-9 Quad 1 mark isn’t impressive. The Longhorns could find themselves falling closer to a No. 11 seed spot without having any control of it.
SMU
Get ready for a couple of stressful days, SMU, since it was unable to boost its resume in the ACC tournament.
After finally ending a four-game skid with an opening round victory over Syracuse on Tuesday, the Mustangs needed more and had a chance against Louisville. For the majority of the day, SMU looked like it could take down the Cardinals and get a massive victory. However, it didn’t score in the final two and a half minutes and Louisville powered through for the win.
SMU is one of the last four in, but can now only hope no other team steals bids and pushes them down the line. Had the Mustangs won, they could have secured their selection. It’s a miserable feeling being unable to do anything about it, but it’s the price to pay for having such a rough end to the season.