When a website is covering a bubble team in the weeks before the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, covering the national bubble picture is part of the deal.
That’s the core part about covering the bubble: One team’s place in the field depends to a certain extent on its own results, but it also depends a lot on what everyone else is doing.
The NCAA Tournament bubble, in every year — not just this one — is a study in moving parts. Sometimes, teams play their way into the field. Bids which were up for grabs get clearly snatched up.
Other years, teams play their way out of the field. Bids remain up for grabs into Friday and Saturday of Championship Week. That’s what we have this year, though Friday could create some complications.
USC failed to lock up an NCAA Tournament bid on Thursday at the Pac-12 Tournament. The Trojans lost to Arizona State, leaving their situation uncertain.
However, in the many Thursday games which preceded USC’s late-night quarterfinal game in Las Vegas, the bubble broke in a very good direction for the Trojans.
You can look at our full bubble guide and see how many bubble teams fell short. Those teams will all finish below USC on the NCAA Tournament seed list.
Michigan was just one of the bubble teams which clearly got knocked into the NIT on Thursday. USC is not in that position.
It will take a perfect storm of bad luck for the Trojans to miss the NCAA Tournament at this point. Stay with us as we keep you posted on all the teams, games and scenarios that matter most.
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