Bids, The Bubble, and BYU

It's been March for about a week now. There have already been about a dozen tickets punched to the big dance. Today though is the first day of March that seems like March Madness. Every conference tournament has gotten underway. So it's do or die for mid level teams from the big 6 conferences. An exit in the first round of the conference tournament means a popped bubble.

BYU has 25 wins and is number 47 in the RPI. However they play in the WCC and because of that could be overlooked for an at large bid. I find it disgusting that weak teams like Northwestern, Washington and Illinois stayed on the bubble until the 3 days before Selection Sunday just because they play in "big 6" conferences. Fortunately those 3 teams have played their way off the bubble with losses today. This is great news for Brigham Young.


With those three out of the conversation about the only way the Cougars could be left out is if a dark horse team wins a big 6 league tournament. The best chance for that to happen is in the Pac-12. California has the highest RPI in the league at 37th. Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, and BYU are at 25, 30 and 47 respectively. There are no other members of the Pac-12 with RPIs above BYU. That said the only way I can see the Pac-12 getting two bids at this point, thus potentially stealing a bid from BYU.

California, Oregon and Arizona are the only teams with any argument for an at large bid left in the Pac-12. In my opinion California is the only of those teams presenting a coherent argument for an at large. That said the only way 2 teams from the Pac-12 should get in to the big dance would be if Cal were to drop a close one in the championship game.

Oregon State, the 9 seed with an 19-13 record and fresh off an upset of Washington, will face Arizona tomorrow in the Semis. California plays Stanford in a quarterfinal tonight and the winner of that game will face the winner of the Oregon/Colorado quarterfinal that will wrap up the night. Basically the Pac 12 doesn't deserve two bids, but it could snatch up a second. That would be a shame.

The Bubble will be smaller tomorrow so I'll be able to analyze the Cougars' situation with more ease. Right now I'm going to root for no upsets in the Pac-12 tournament, if you're a WCC fan you should do the same.