Sportsbook – NCAA Tourney Bubble Watch. It is almost February so March Madness at the sportsbook is just around the corner. It is never too early to look at teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble so let’s look at a few teams that need to start winning against the odds at the Internet sportsbook.
Top Heavy Year
This is going to be a weird year for the NCAA Tournament. There are a lot of very good teams and a lot of teams that probably don’t belong in the Big Dance. That is going to mean a lot of teams on the bubble. Even teams like Butler and Gonzaga who have struggled recently are not out of the picture. Both are still on the bubble and don’t forget both could still win their conference tournaments and get into the dance.
Bubble Boys
North Carolina is squarely on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament. The ACC is not that strong and although the Tar Heels have a good RPI and strength of schedule they have not played well on the road. Road wins are huge when it comes to making the tournament. Maryland and Virginia Tech are also on the bubble in the ACC. In the Big 12 you have a number of teams on the bubble including Oklahoma State and Kansas State. They will probably both make it but they sure can’t afford to go into a prolonged slump. Baylor and Colorado are not in as good a shape. The Big East is going to probably get eight teams in and they could get as many as 11.
That means that Cincinnati, St. John’s and Marquette are on the bubble. The Big 10 is very top heavy with Ohio State and Purdue. Michigan State is no longer a lock to make it and Minnesota lost their starting point guard. In the Pac-10, Arizona, UCLA and Washington State still have work to do. In the SEC, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina need more wins and it could be that two of the three don’t make it. The Atlantic 10 has a lot of depth but only Temple and Xavier look good in sportsbook odds at SBG. As many as four other teams, Rhode Island, Duquesne, Dayton and Richmond are in the mix. In the Mountain West, the two bubble teams are UNLV and Colorado State.