All of the bubble focus was on the Big 12 yesterday and two of the conference’s three bubble teams were upset. Colorado, the Big 12 bubble team with the strongest resume, did manage to come back and survive against Iowa State. There’s much more action today as the Big Ten, ACC, and Pac-10 all begin the thick of their conference tournaments. Full viewing guide and bracketology roundup after the jump.
| Root for | Root against | Time | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Carolina | UAB | 12:00 PM | CBS CS |
| Auburn | Georgia | 1:00 PM | ESPN3 |
| Wake Forest | Boston College | 2:30 PM | ESPN3 |
| Southern Miss | Memphis | 2:30 PM | CBS CS |
| Kansas St. | Colorado | 3:00 PM | ESPN3 |
| California | USC | 3:00 PM | FSN |
| Iowa vs. Michigan State | 4:30 PM | ESPN2 | |
| Arkansas | Tennessee | 7:30 PM | ESPN3 |
| Indiana/Penn St. | 7:30 PM | BTN | |
| Georgia Tech | Virginia Tech | 9:30 PM | ESPN3 |
| Washington | Washington St | 11:30 PM | FSN |
The Iowa-Michigan State game is a toss-up. A Michigan State loss would take another team off the Bubble but it would probably come at the expense of two of Michigan’s top 50 wins. So we’ll leave that one up for debate. The best case scenario for Michigan is probably a Michigan State win followed by a loss to Purdue. Indiana-Penn State is a similar situation where an Indiana win won’t catapult Penn State but a loss would hurt their RPI. Considering Michigan has beaten the Nittany Lions twice, it might be best to root for a respectable showing.
These are the notable games involving bubble teams, I didn’t include the early rounds of the mid-major conference tournaments. As a general rule you want to always root for teams in the field – BYU, San Diego St. – and against the bubble teams.
Now, here’s a rundown of the latest bracketology updates:
- Bracketology 101: 11 seed
- Crashing the Dance: 10 seed
- SI.com: 11 seed vs Kansas State
- Jerry Palm/CBS: 11 seed vs. West Virginia
- Bracket Matrix: 11 seed
- Joe Lunardi/ESPN: 11 seed vs. West Virginia
