A very busy Saturday for the bubble has been marked by ACC bluebloods who have been trying to scrape their way into the key recently. One of them did it. North Carolina returned in the second half to beat Florida State, putting Tar Heels in the key for now. They are a little beyond the last four teams on the field after getting their best win of the season, but they cannot rest on their laurels, because they still have games in Syracuse and at home against rival Duke.
Speaking of Blue Devils, they missed the chance to enter the bracket on Saturday when they fell to Louisville in overtime in their home final. There are still chances for Duke, however. You have to hit the road to face Georgia Tech before playing at UNC. And, of course, there is still the ACC Tournament where you can have quality wins away from home.
Mississippi and Minnesota had their bubbles burst yesterday, and you can also stick a fork in Indiana.
Vanderbilt shattered any of Mississippi’s realistic hopes for a free offer with a 75-70 victory on Saturday, and there is no good victory on the Mississippi calendar to make up for games like this. The passing faint of the Minnesota season hit another low in the 78-74 loss in Nebraska. There are five consecutive defeats for the Squirrels, who have not won since an injury in practice to Gabe Kalscheur that occurred before the second defeat in this sequence, which came in Indiana.
That was the last time the Hoosiers experienced victory. Unsurprisingly, Indiana lost at home to Michigan yesterday by 73-58, dropping to 0.500 this season. They still have games at Michigan State and Purdue, two teams the Hoosiers have already lost at home. After the game, coach Archie Miller said playmaker Arman Franklin was likely to miss those games due to a foot injury. He’s Indiana’s most trusted guard.
At Big East, UConn and Xavier came out of the bubble for good reason. Each won, with Xavier’s victory over Creighton at home, avenging a previous defeat for the Bluejays.
Here are the bubble teams in action on Sunday, starting with a “double bubble” game. All Eastern Time