In case you may have missed it, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has been putting in some work with his bracketology updates over the past few days.
In his latest update, Lunardi included four Big 12 teams on either side of the bubble, which continues to add excitement as the regular season winds down. The league should have an incredible presence in March, and now it’s just about figuring out who that will be.
A LOOK AT THE BUBBLE
The top-ranked Big 12 team remaining on the bubble is Jamie Dixon’s TCU Horned Frogs. They’ve been stuck in the Last Four In tier for the past few updates, but have since jumped to the Last Four Byes. Their season finishes up with games against No. 16 Texas Tech and fellow bubble team Cincinnati.
After TCU, there’s a significant drop in rankings, as the next Big 12 team to be mentioned was West Virginia, which earned one of the last spots of the Next Four Out tier. Previously, they weren’t on the bubble, but now, they are at least inching closer. Then, there’s Cincinnati, which checks in one spot behind WVU as the last spot on the Next Four Out tier. They have a lot of work left if they intend on reaching the Big Dance, and with games against No. 19 BYU and TCU left, they’ll have an opportunity to make it happen. Finally, the Baylor Bears are still on the outside looking in, and it may be a little too late for them to make a run. An upset over No. 5 Houston at home would carry a ton of weight should they make it happen, then they close out the year against last-place Utah.
What’s next remains to be seen. Could all of these teams find a way into the tournament field? Probably not, but you can’t ask for much better than a runway toward March for the regular-season title at the top of the league, and a fight on the bubble for everyone else. That’s just life in the Big 12, folks; it always matters.
With four or more teams in the bubble conversation, the Big 12 is poised to play a significant role in shaping the back end of the bracket over the next few weeks.
