By Michael Gross

🔐 

Duke, UNC, UVA

“Near Lock”

  Clemson

“Good Shape”

Louisville, SMU, NCST

“Bubble”

Cal, Virginia Tech, Miami

“Fringe Bubble”

Stanford 

           Virginia and UNC secured their bids to the NCAA Tournament over the weekend. UVA has won 4 in a row and with 4 Q1 away wins and only true bad loss potential left of their schedule; I feel secure in locking them in. UNC in style clinched their bid by beating Duke and setting off a wild celebration! UNC now owns wins over Duke, UVA, Kentucky, and Kansas. Who joins them next?

“Near Lock”

          I just don’t know what to do with Clemson. Their best wins are Georgia, Cal and SMU. They also have a questionable loss to Georgetown. At the same time they are 20-4 and 10-4 in Q1/2 games. Certainly, if they win at Duke this weekend they’ll be a 🔐 for me. I think if they beat Virginia Tech at home and win any other game the rest of the way; they’ll be in with room to spare.

“Good Shape”

          SMU continues to struggle to move up. They lost narrowly to NCST last week before beating Pitt on the road. This week they get Notre Dame and Syracuse. If they lose either game they might drop down to the “Bubble” Section. If they win both; they’ll probably move up.

          It’s been quite a turnaround for NCST. When they lost to GT back in January they were 12-6 with 0 good wins and a bad loss. Since then, they’ve won 6 in a row including wins over Clemson and SMU on the road. Now they are in “Good Shape” to make the NCAA Tournament. If they beat either Louisville or Miami this week; they’ll move up to “Near Lock”. If they win both; they’ll be a 🔐.

           Louisville has won 3 in a row. They get NCST and Baylor this week. A win in either will move them up.

“Bubble”

          Miami got past Boston College in New England to improve to 18-5 on the season. That record looks great, but it is lacking in quality wins. Their best wins have come against Wake, Ole Miss and Syracuse. Up next the Hurricanes host UNC before traveling to NCST this weekend. If they win either game then I like their chances moving forward. If they don’t win 1 of the 2 then things get even shakier than they already are.

          Pretty rough week for Cal metrics wise. First, they struggled to get past GT at home and then got blown out by Clemson. Next up they have Syracuse and BC on the road. They really need to win both of them!

          Virginia Tech has now lost 3 of 4. Outside of the triple OT win over UVA, they haven’t done much. They absolutely must beat FSU on Saturday and it would really help if they can win at Clemson.

“Fringe Bubble”

          Stanford finally stopped a 5 game losing streak by blowing out Georgia Tech. Their next 3 games are all on the road against BC, Wake and Cal. They really need to go 2-1 to have a chance.