Arkansas knocked off Missouri, putting them one step closer to locking down an NCAA Tournament bid. That said, they still have work to do. If they aren’t careful there’s a few teams on their coat tails.
North Carolina is in the same boat. The Tar Heels are on thin ice when it comes to getting an NCAA Tournament bid. The Tar Heels are still listed as one of the first four out as of Friday’s update to Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology.
Both the Tar Heels and the Razorbacks have a few teams that could steal their bids in the NCAA Tournament. Here’s who John Calipari should keep a watchful eye on and who Hubert Davis hopes doesn’t catch more fire.
4 Teams lurking behind Arkansas and North Carolina, vying for their NCAA Tournament bids
4) Indiana Hoosiers
The Indiana Hoosiers stunned Purdue, staking their claim as a strong bubble team in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers entered the weekend as one of the second four teams out, per Joe Lunardi.
Now the Hoosiers should jump into one of the last four byes at worst, leapfrogging the Tar Heels most likely. Indiana has just two wins of the last eight games. That said, those two wins were against teams ranked in the AP top 25.
And truthfully if you look at those losses, all but two of them were by five or less points. The Hoosiers are on the cusp of being one of the top teams in the Big Ten, though their record doesn’t back it up.
Getting wins over Michigan State and Purdue in a week proves they deserve to be in the field of 68. It could come at the expense of Arkansas or North Carolina.
3) Vanderbilt Commodores
The SEC is going to get the benefit of the doubt this season. It’s been the strongest conference in college basketball this year and as a result, their teams will get the biggest benefit of the doubt. Which works in Arkansas’ favor too.
That said, the Vanderbilt Commodores and Razorbacks could be on a crash course to eliminating each other. Vandy probably poses the biggest threat to the Razorbacks. If the committee decides to only take one of them, the Commodores could get in over Arkansas.
And if they decide to take both, North Carolina will probably be the odd team out.
2) Wake Forest Demon Deacons
The ACC might not be as strong as it’s been, but there are still a couple of teams outside of Clemson and Duke that could land in the field of 68. Wake Forest has a really good shot. In the latest Bracketology, the Demon Deacons are in the last four in.
They have the best shot to knock North Carolina out. They are ranked higher in the conference standings than the Tar Heels and beat them head-to-head. Whichever team gets in will come down to what happens in the conference tournament.
1) VCU Rams
The biggest, non-conference threat to North Carolina getting into the NCAA Tournament might be VCU. The Rams are a runaway to win the Atlantic-10 conference. They have just two conference losses to St. Louis and St. Bonaventure.
Right now, VCU is one of the last four teams in. They’re ahead of North Carolina in the latest Bracketology, but when it comes down to it, VCU could kick UNC out.