There are no elimination games. There is no magic victory that will assure a bubble team of NCAA Tournament entry.
That’s the story of the final weekend of college basketball’s regular season for those teams that have entered the perilous realm of existence known as the “Bubble”.
When conference tournaments begin next week, there will be circumstances in which a team will have no choice but to win the game assigned to them, because failure to do so means there will be no additional chances granted.
On this weekend, there are teams toward the edge of the Bubble that obviously cannot afford to lose their final regular-season games, but the conference tournaments they enter offer at least something of a safety net. In the tournaments themselves, there are no second chances.
So consider all of that when perusing the myriad games that appear on this weekend's Bubble Watch:
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Best NCAA Bubble Game of Saturday:
Clemson at Wake Forest, 6 p.m., ACC Network. Oh, the damage the Deacons have done to their NCAA Tournament pursuit since igniting the possibility – and a national conversation about court-storming, but that’s a discussion for a day that’s already passed – of reaching the field two very long weeks ago. Since that game, the Deacs have lost three in a row, all to teams with no hope of reaching the NCAAs without an automatic bid, two of them with losing records, one of them at home. A win at home against Clemson isn’t going to erase all of that. But it would be a start.
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Others to monitor (bubble team in bold):
Memphis at Florida Atlantic, noon, CBS
Georgetown at St. John’s, noon, Fox
Iowa State at Kansas State, 2 p.m., ESPN
South Florida at Tulsa, 3 p.m., ESPN+
Colorado at Oregon State, 5 p.m., Pac-12 Networks
UCF at TCU, 5 p.m., ESPN+
NC State at Pitt, 7:45, The CW
UConn at Providence, 8 p.m., Fox
Georgia Tech at Virginia, 8 p.m., ACC Network
New Mexico at Utah State, 8:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network
DePaul at Seton Hall, 8:30 p.m., FS1
Best NCAA Bubble Game of Sunday
Illinois at Iowa, 7 p.m., FS1
Since mid-February, the Hawkeyes are 4-1 with victories over three NCAA Tournament-bound teams. That’s at least put them under consideration. If they can find a way to beat the Illini at home on a Big Ten-filled Sunday, they will have a chance. If they cannot, they will need to win the league’s automatic bid – with Purdue and these same Illini standing in the way.
Others to monitor (bubble team in bold):
Nebraska at Michigan, noon, Big Ten Network
Ohio State at Rutgers, 2 p.m., Big Ten Network
Pure NCAA Bubble games
The beauty of a pure bubble game is that both teams involved find themselves similar circumstances. Neither can afford to lose, nor can they afford the opponent to win. There’s nothing quite like in any other sport.
Saturday:
Texas A&M at Ole Miss, 2:30 p.m., SEC Network
Utah at Oregon, 7 p.m., Pac-12 Networks