March Madness 2024 Bubble Watch: Last Four In, First Four Out, more on Feb. 20

Bubble Watch Awards

Biggest Bubble Win: New Mexico At Nevada

The Lobos have one of the best home-court advantages in college basketball but found themselves with a tough Mountain West trip to fellow bubbler Nevada and San Diego State looming last week. Finding a way to hang on for an 83-82 win in Reno gave New Mexico a critical sweep of Nevada and breathing room to afford a loss to the Aztecs in Viejas.

Worst Bubble Loss: St. John's Vs. Seton Hall

Blown second half leads have defined St. John's fall off the bubble page and Sunday's 19-point collapse against Seton Hall was so disastrous that head coach Rick Pitino ripped his team's performance after the game. The defeat capped an 0-2 week for the Red Storm, who are now 2-9 in Quad 1 games, and leaves them virtually no margin for error if they hope to avoid the auto-bid in the Big East.

Biggest Bubble Opportunity: Villanova

We'll stay in the Big East for a second straight week as Villanova can really enhance its resume with a shot at No. 1 UCONN on Saturday night. Avenging a loss against Butler, which won against them in double overtime earlier this season, to avoid getting swept would be a good way to keep pushing the Wildcats closer to the cut line.

Bubble Team In Danger: Nebraska

As we mentioned earlier, Nebraska has just one road win this season and it came against Kansas State back in December. The Cornhuskers have racked up road losses in the Big Ten against four teams who aren't in at-large consideration (Minnesota, Iowa, Rutgers and Maryland) and have a trip to Indiana on Wednesday that could turn into a Quad 3 loss if they aren't careful. Nebraska has solid metrics and three good Quad 1 wins (with home wins over Purdue and Wisconsin being the headliners) but if they can't demonstrate an ability to win away from Pinnacle Bank Arena the Cornhuskers could be left out in the cold on Selection Sunday.