Bracketology update: Last 4 in – Are Arizona State and Clemson safe?

Bracketology is fluid, but these four teams would be in the NCAA Tournament is the season ended today, but is Clemson or Arizona State really safe?

Even with just two or three games remaining for the handful of bubble teams across the country, who are fighting for their tournaments, a win or loss can mean the difference between making the NCAA Tournament or the NIT.

In the latest edition of his 2019 NCAA Tournament Bracketology, Joe Lunardi has Arizona State, Seton Hall, Clemson, and Utah State as his last four teams in the bracket.

All four teams will be in action this weekend looking to further cement their status as at-large tournament teams. With wins, they continue to move onto the right side of the bubble, while a loss could put them out of the tournament and into the NIT for good.

Let’s take a look at each team and their weekend matchups.

Arizona State

19-9 (10-6)

Matchup: at Oregon State (Sunday 3/3)

Arizona State looked to be firmly in the field of 68 before they went on the road for their first of three straight away from Tempe and got blown off the floor by an undermanned Oregon team that has really struggled this season without Bol Bol.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Bobby Hurley and the Sun Devils as they’ll travel to Corvallis to take on the Pac 12’s third-place team, the Oregon State Beavers, a team that is also doing everything they can to keep their tournament chances alive.

Arizona State has shown under Bobby Hurley that they aren’t great at holding onto tournament bids and will need a win at Oregon State and then again at Arizona next weekend.

Clemson

17-11 (7-8)

Matchup: No. 5 North Carolina 

Clemson is coming into this weekend with two conference wins against bottom feeders in the ACC, helping to improve their conference record to one game below .500, but now will have a real test with No. 5 North Carolina coming to town.

Brad Brownell’s team has gone 1-5 in ACC play against ranked opponents, and 1-6 overall on the season, so if you’re betting man, the odds are stacked against the Tigers to knock off one of the hottest team’s in the country.

A loss would likely move Clemson out of the last four in, as they’d hold a 7-9 ACC record. An upset against the Tar Heels and then a win against either Notre Dame or Syracuse, would more than likely stamp Clemson’s ticket to the big dance. Either way, there’s a lot of work to be done.

Seton Hall

16-11 (7-8)

Matchup: at Georgetown

If Clemson is one loss away from being out of the tournament altogether, then the same applies to Seton Hall. The Pirates are currently 7-8 in what has been a really down year for the Big East, which doesn’t bode well for them come selection Sunday, unless some wins start happening.

Seton Hall has lost their last two against Xavier and St. John’s and will get a Matchup against another bubble team, Georgetown, on Saturday. When the two teams met less than a month ago, Seton Hall walked away with a 15 point win, but since then Georgetown has picked up wins over Villanova (ranked no.17 at the time) and DePaul.

Seton Hall still has more work to do even with a win over Georgetown to guarantee a spot in the tournament, and it won’t get any easier with a matchup looming against No. 10 Marquette.

Utah State

23-6 (13-3)

Matchup: No. 12 Nevada 

On paper, you wouldn’t think Utah State deserves to be listed as one of the last four teams in, seeing as how they have no wins over teams in the top 50 of the KenPom rankings (their highest comes against 68th ranked Fresno State). But they are currently 13-3 in the MWC and have no major losses, outside of San Diego State (ranked 132nd by KenPom).

For teams like Utah State, history has not been on their side, when it comes to getting into the tournament as at large teams. With Nevada being the top team in the conference, and a top 10 team nationally, this could be the perfect opportunity for the Aggies to not only get a huge resume win but also a chance to steal the regular season conference title from the star-studded Wolfpack. Not to mention, a win over Nevada could send them to the bubble even with them being ranked as high as they are. That’s a double whammy.