College basketball bubble watch: Week 7
These five college basketball teams on the projected NCAA Tournament bubble will look to pick up big wins in week seven.
With league play set to get underway near the start of the new year, college basketball teams around the nation will look to polish their nonconference resumes in week seven.
The nonconference portion of the 2017-18 regular season was filled with upsets and surprises, leading to a few perennial NCAA Tournament contenders unexpectedly finding themselves on the bubble in the early going. A pair of 2017 Final Four participants in Oregon and South Carolina are on the outside looking in for now, while other preseason top 25 teams like USC and UCLA will have to battle hard in conference play just to make the Big Dance.
While there’s still plenty of basketball left to play before Selection Sunday, marquee nonconference wins can make a huge difference for bubble teams, making the next few days crucial for several squads who have faltered in the first seven weeks of the season. These five teams will have an opportunity to boost their respective resumes heading into the new year.
UCLA Bruins
Everyone expected the Bruins to slip some without Lonzo Ball, but Steve Alford’s team has struggled mightily in the early going and could be in serious danger of missing the NCAA Tournament with another loss this weekend.
UCLA got off to a rocky start this season by suspending LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley over a shoplifting incident during its early November trip to China, effectively decimating any depth the Bruins had. That’s had an impact on the court, as UCLA is off to a shaky 8-3 start, and was dominated at home by Cincinnati last weekend in one of its biggest nonconference games of the year.
The Bruins have been fortunate to scrape by teams like South Dakota and Central Arkansas in narrow victories, and are on the wrong side of the cut line with only one top 100 win over a 5-7 Wisconsin team. That has a chance to change on Saturday afternoon, as the Bruins get a marquee neutral court matchup against Kentucky in New Orleans.
As bad as the Bruins have looked this year, there’s still enough talent for Alford and company to make a run through the Pac-12. Key returners Aaron Holiday and Thomas Welsh are both playing well so far while stud freshmen Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands headline a strong recruiting class.
Despite looking beatable at times this season, Kentucky is up to No. 7 in the AP Poll and would provide a massive resume boost to a Bruins team that is lacking quality wins at the moment. UCLA won’t get many opportunities like this in Pac-12 play, so a win on Saturday could completely change its season and keep some pressure off of Alford for a few weeks.