NCAA Tournament Last 8 In, First 8 Out Saturday Update

With the NCAA Tournament Selection Show coming up on Sunday, we’ll spend this week tracking the bubble teams to see who has improved their standing for an invite.

A look at our last 8 in, first 8 out after Friday’s matches. You can find the bubble teams as of the beginning of this week here.

Wednesday Update

Here’s how it shaped up:

Wins:

• Illinois swept Rutgers 3-0, but a tough Penn State squad awaits Saturday.
• Wichita State topped UNI in the Missouri Valley tournament 3-1. UNI is very much a bubble team at this point, and Wichita State is probably locked in, though they could earn an automatic bid by beating Missouri State in the final.
• Cincinnati beat Memphis 3-1. The Bearcats have won 6 straight to end the year and might be surging towards a last-minute berth.
• Temple beat Tulsa 3-1, but still faces an uphill battle to get in after losing at home to SMU this week.
• Same for UCF, which swept Houston 3-0 after losing earlier in the week.

Losses:

• Marquette fell to Xavier 3-1 in the Big East tournament. Xavier then lost to Creighton in a quick 3-0 sweep. That hurts Marquette’s chances. Xavier was beyond even our first 8 out and probably doesn’t make the big leap in after being swept by Creighton.
• After winning a tight 3-2 match on Wednesday vs Miami, the score flipped for Georgia Tech Friday with a 3-2 loss to Florida State.
• Indiana was swept by Maryland 3-0 and is probably drawing dead for a tournament berth, unless they can pull off the unlikely upset of Ohio State on the road Saturday.

Schedule

A look at the remaining games for the last 8 in, first 8 out:

Saturday:

• Pitt @ Virginia
• Baylor vs Kansas
• Illinois @ Penn State
• Wichita State vs Missouri State (Missouri Valley Tournament)
• Indiana @ Ohio State
• Alabama @ LSU