March Madness 2024 Bubble Watch: First Four Out, Last Four In, more on March 5
March Madness Bubble Watch: Next Four Out
Team | Iowa | Drake | Utah | Memphis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Conference | Big Ten | Missouri Valley | Pac-12 | American |
Record | 18-12 (10-9) | 25-6 (16-4) | 18-11 (9-9) | 22-8 (11-6) |
NET | 56 | 48 | 46 | 71 |
Quad 1 Record | 3-8 | 3-1 | 4-7 | 3-2 |
Quad 2 Record | 5-3 | 2-3 | 4-3 | 3-3 |
Quad 3/4 Record | 10-1 | 19-2 | 10-1 | 16-3 |
Strength Of Schedule | 14 | 125 | 16 | 89 |
Non-Conference Strength Of Schedule | 242 | 241 | 51 | 58 |
Last Game | W 87-80 At Northwestern | W 74-66 Vs. Bradley | W 88-59 Vs. California | W 106-87 Vs. UAB |
Next Game | Vs. No. 12 Illinois 3/10 | Missouri Valley Tournament Quarterfinals 3/8 | At Oregon State 3/7 | At Florida Atlantic 3/9 |
It feels like there's always a team that makes a stunning late push towards the bubble and this year's edition resides in Ames. The Hawkeyes have scooped up two Quad 1 wins over the past few weeks with road wins against Michigan State and Northwestern before getting a shot at No. 12 Illinois on Saturday that could push them to the brink of the field.
The fact that Drake has three Quad 1 wins out of the Missouri Valley is very impressive and its metrics are better than most bubble teams. There is at-large potential if they lose to Indiana State in the finals of Arch Madness but if the Bulldogs get that far they might as well just get the auto bid themselves and leave the Sycamores sweating on Selection Sunday.
Utah needed its emphatic sweep of Cal and Stanford last week to stop the bleeding of a brutal stretch of Pac-12 play that saw them lose six of their previous eight games. Solid metrics are propping up the Utes' case and a sweep of the Oregon trip would give Utah 20 wins on the season.
Memphis is an interesting case because they had a notable dip when they lost Caleb Mills for the season in January but have righted the ship since then. Completing a sweep of Florida Atlantic on Sunday would do wonders for their chances ahead of the conference tournament.