Posted by Mark Schlabach
Virginia Tech, Minnesota and maybe Michigan were the big bubble winners in Thursday's early games in the conference tournaments.
The big losers? Miami and Providence.
The Hokies blasted the Hurricanes 65-47 in the ACC tournament in
Atlanta, and the Gophers beat Northwestern 66-53 in the Big Ten
tournament in Indianapolis. Michigan, which perhaps needed only one victory to lock up an at-large
bid, opened a 40-19 lead on Iowa at halftime of its game.
Providence lost to Louisville by 18 and now has to just sit and wait.
Here's a closer look at Thursday's late-afternoon bubble games:
Penn State versus Indiana (ESPN2, 5 p.m. ET)
The Nittany Lions finished 10-8 in Big Ten play and have five
high-end victories. They swept games against Illinois, won at Michigan
State and beat Purdue, Minnesota and Michigan at home.
But Penn State has the worst RPI rating (No. 66) among the Big Ten
bubble teams, so it might need a victory or two in Indianapolis to
secure an at-large bid. Penn State's nonconference schedule was ranked
310th in the country, which might not sit well with the NCAA selection
committee.
If the Nittany Lions beat Indiana, they would play No. 3 seed Purdue in
Friday's quarterfinals.
Utah State versus Fresno State (5:30 p.m. ET)
The Aggies have a 26-4 record and No. 29 RPI rating, but they can't feel
really confident about getting into the NCAA's 65-team field unless they
win the WAC tournament in Reno, Nev.
Utah State has only one victory over an RPI top-50 opponent, having beaten
Utah 66-64 at home on Dec. 22. In fact, only two of USU's 26
victories came against RPI top-100 foes. (The Aggies beat No. 81 Nevada 72-61
at home.)
Both of Utah State's regular-season games against Fresno State were
close. The Aggies won 65-61 at home on Jan. 15 and 83-77 in overtime on
the road on Jan. 31.
UNLV versus San Diego State (5:30 p.m. ET)
The Aztecs beat UNLV twice during the regular season and finished two
games better in the Mountain West Conference standings with an 11-5
record.
For UNLV to have any chance at an at-large bid, it will have to beat San
Diego State. The selection committee won't jump the Aztecs in the
league standings for an opponent they beat three times.
SDSU is also ranked higher in the RPI ratings at No. 43 -- 13 spots
better than the Runnin' Rebels. But UNLV has better high-end victories,
having beaten Louisville on the road and Utah and Arizona at home and having swept
two games against BYU.
San Diego State's lone RPI top-50 victory was a 72-63 win over Utah on
Jan. 10.
Rhode Island versus Duquesne (6:30 p.m. ET)
After losing to Massachusetts 72-71 in their regular-season finale on
Saturday, the Rams might have to reach the Atlantic 10 tournament
championship game (or even win it) to earn an at-large bid.
The Rams have two RPI top-50 victories, having beaten Dayton and Temple at
home. Rhode Island also beat Virginia Commonwealth at home and beat Penn
State on a neutral court.
Rhode Island beat Duquesne 73-71 on the road on March 1, with the Rams
nearly blowing a five-point lead in the final 11.6 seconds. Kahiem Seawright led Rhode Island with 21 points and six rebounds in that game.
