Daily Bubble Talk - Seven days from Selection Sunday

Roy Williams put Carolina back on the map - a year ahead of schedule. As I wrote earlier, Coach K is very desperate because he won't be able to stop the Carolina Express. Last night's game was a preview of what is to come in the Duke-Carolina rivalry!

Texas A&M, Florida State, UAB all enjoyed great home Ws. This helps a lot but they still have work to do because of their very weak OOC schedule. UAB has the emotional upper hand because of their performance in the NCAAs the last two years.

Four of the top 5 CAA teams are still in the hunt for the automatic bid. This bodes well for the chances of an at-large NCAA or NIT bid for the three who wont' get the automatic bid.

High-scoring Kee Kee Clark of St Peters may get his wish - an NCAA bid! The rest of the nation will then "discover" this scoring little guy.

In the soap-opera that is the Missouri Valley, Southern Illinois punched their ticket with the automatic bid. Bradley looks good as the runner-up in the final - being the hotest team in the MVC. So is it two, three, four or five? I am guessing all five will get a post-season: NCAA and NIT combined :-)

Gonzaga is facing their pseudo-nemesis San Diego tonight in the WCC semi-final. San Diego hopes they can make another run for an NCAA bid - they are just two wins away.

In what is supposed to be "Bubble Battle Sunday" in the ACC, Maryland and Virginia are probably fighting for a good ...NIT seed. FSU can get a lot closer to in with a win at Miami.

Did Georgetown feel sad for South Florida and rolled over? Regardless, South Florida is no longer the only team without a conference win.

Will Wake Forest get angry and win the ACC tourney for an at-large bid? Not likely but not impossible.

Bonehead play of the weekend: Goldwire of Charlotte thinking with his ...elbow. This may have cost the Fighting Bobby-Lutzes an NCAA bid. Well, the NIT is fun too :-)

Some thought Indiana on Friday was on the bubble. Now some think Michigan is on the bubble. Another Coach K disciple struggling for an NCAA bid. The magic wears off when the calls are not favorable, eh?

Colorado is primed for a #1 seed --- in the NIT

Arizona had a melt-down in the 2nd half after leading comfortably. Romar's Huskies are all of a sudden the #2 seed in the Pac 10. Meanwhile Stanford has been having their typical post-season meltdowns throughout the regular season.

Is the SEC bubble ready to burst? Some people give them six bids but do they really deserve it? If you take out their in conference wins, it's hard to find four, let alone six deserving NCAA teams. But it's not over yet...

Ohio State is for real. And that's before Greg Oden. Thad Matta is the next superstar coach. Of course this is only a projection, as he has to be able to sustain this at a high level for more than 10 years to reach the superstar status.

For all the latest news, check UltimateCollegeHoops. They do a great job of updating all the scores and brackets.


NIT Bubble Talk

G-Mac may have not played his last game at the Carrier Dome today. Syracuse will probably get a home game in the NIT. But don't count them out just yet. They could make a run to the Big East conference final, which should be enough to punch their NCAA ticket even if they don't win the Big East conference title.

I am not sure if split regular season conference champions qualify for the NIT, but if they do, Lipscomb, who was the #1 seed in the Atlantic Sun conference, lost to Belmont in the conference tourney final, so they may have punched their NIT ticket!

A case for an NIT bid? Both teams finished 2nd in the regular season and lost in the conference tourney final: Buzz Peterson's Coastal Carolina and Samford.