Pac-12 men’s basketball bubble watch: Oregon could ruin a lot of bubble teams, including Colorado

If Oregon wins the automatic bid in the Pac-12, that shrinks the bubble, and Colorado could be affected.

The Pac-12 basketball season just took a huge turn on Friday night at the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. The Oregon Ducks, who trailed top-seeded Arizona by 19 points early in the Pac-12 semifinals, stormed back for an absolutely shocking 67-59 win over the regular-season Pac-12 champion. The Ducks are now in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game and are one win away from getting an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Ducks Wire has more on the story, and here’s the bubble overview flowing from Oregon’s win:

Colorado beat Washington State in the second Pac-12 semifinal, with Buffaloes Wire providing complete coverage. Colorado’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament did increase with the win, but they might not have increased nearly as much as the Buffaloes and their fans would have liked.

Why? Oregon can now steal a bid from bubble teams, Colorado being one of them. If Colorado loses to Oregon on Saturday night, the Buffs’ chances of making the NCAA Tournament would be better than 50-50, but they would be far from a lock and could be excluded if other bubble teams succeed or if other surprising automatic bid-holders emerge from conference tournaments. We’ll have one more bubble watch on the morning of Selection Sunday. The Men’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show is Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific, on CBS.

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