Source: thedailygopher.com / The current "Bubble" situation provides plenty of intrigue, but is lacking in overall depth, especially compared to recent years.

College Basketball "Bubble" Update: Plenty of Intrigue, Not Much Depth

The weekend is upon us, and there are a slew of important games on-tap, as each team gets ever-closer to wrapping up the regular season. The coming games provide a plethora of opportunities for perspective "Bubble" teams to get that marque win they need to feel good about their prospects come Selection Sunday. Or, in some cases, they provide an opportunity to do some damage control, and maintain their current positions by taking care of lesser opponents. Either way, the stakes are starting to get a bit higher as each team tries to boost their resume heading into Conference Tournament time.

This year's "Bubble" seems lacking in overall depth - especially when compared to recent seasons. It's not that the "Bubble" doesn't have intrigue, it certainly does - and we'll get to that a bit later - it's just that their isn't as much depth as we've come accustomed to seeing. With the way things currently stand there are really just 8 teams maybe, that are currently outside of the projected bracket that have an actual chance of playing themselves in by tournament time. When there are numerous pundits out there at the moment that are proclaiming that "under .500" might be okay to the committee this year, you know that this year's version of the "Bubble" is significantly lacking in depth.

What we are left to sort through is an interesting combination of "power" conference teams that all seemed to put together impressive non-conference schedules, only to faulter badly within their respective conference-play; and a group of "mid-majors" that actually all check-in with solid metric numbers, have more impressive overall records, but may be lacking in those 'marque, big-name' wins. That makes for an intriguing conversation at the backend of the bracket.

Source: newsok.com / Will the Sooners be in or out come selection Sunday? They are right on the cut-line...

As it currently stands, I have Texas (7-8, 15-13), Alabama (8-7, 17-11), Minnesota (8-10, 18-11), and Oklahoma (5-10, 17-11) as the last four teams in. The Longhorns and Crimson Tide would be squaring off in one play-in game, with the Golden Gophers and Sooners facing off in the other. The overwhelming majority of projected brackets out there at the moment have Oklahoma included in the field and they are the most interesting team to assess. The Sooners went a very impressive 12-1 in their non-conference with a big wins over Florida and Wofford. They also defeated Wichita State, Creighton, USC, and Northwestern. The latter four are all a bit down this year, but are decent wins. The problem is within conference play. As I've previously discussed with the Sooners, they are still significantly lacking in 'marque' wins within Big XII play. They had an opportunity at Iowa State at the beginning of the week and were blown out. OU's "quality" wins within Big XII play are a sweep of TCU (who is currently just 6-9 in the Big XII and in danger of tumbling close to the cut-line themselves) and a win at home over Texas. The Longhorns have dropped back to "last four in" territory, and are under .500 now in the Big XII as well and are just 15-13 overall. So even though at first glance the Sooners own 3 "quality" conference wins, they are a bit of a mirage at the moment. TCU and Texas could both fall out of the field, leaving those victories rather shallow.

I have the Sooners as the last team in, but they need to win at least one of their final two games - at home against Kansas, and at Kansas State. They also need to avoid losing at-home against West Virginia in their next game. A loss to the last-place Mountaineers would mean a sweep at the hands of WVU and that would be very damaging to Oklahoma's overall prospects.

Source: flurrysports.com / Belmont is right in the middle of the bubble as well. The Bruins find themselves in last four bye territory at the moment, but several current projections have them out of the field.

Looking at the rest of the "Bubble", I happen to like Belmont. The Bruins are 24-4 overall and looking very strong these days. They may very easily win their conference tournament, but if they don't, an at-large bid is still within their grasp. The biggest reason? Their "NET" rating. The selection committee is supposedly scrapping the RPI this season for the new "NET" ratings, which attempt to give each team an objective performance rating, no matter how difficult - or lacking - the competition. The Bruins have a current NET of 45, well-within range for the field of 68. That overall performance ranking is right in-line with several other "power" schools that are either right on the cut-line for very close to it. TCU has a NET of 43, Ohio State is #40, Texas is 36, Alabama is 48, Minnesota is a bit higher at 55, and the aforementioned Sooners check-in at 42.

How the committee treats that NET ranking will be very telling this season. I've seen the Sooners currently slotted as high as an 8-seed believe it or not, which makes no sense. The argument usually by the pundits that love the Sooners so much centers around their overall strength of schedule and high NET rating. For some reason, those same pundits seem to completely overlook the NET ratings of the likes of Belmont (45), Lipscomb (47), Furman (46), and Central Florida (30). Central Florida's NET ratings, RPI rank, and Strength of Schedule rank all correlate more to an 8-9 seed at the moment, but I'm seeing the Knights routinely slotted in 11-seed and "last four-in" territory. Sorry, but you can't use the NET to justify putting Oklahoma in the field, and then overlook it when slighting the likes of UCF, Belmont, and other mid-majors.

Source: orlando-rising.com / The Knights have rose above the competition this year, and have a current NET rating of 30. UCF should be a 9-10 seed at the moment.

All of that being said, here is how I see the current "bubble" situation heading into a very important weekend of college basketball action:

LAST FOUR BYES:

11 ARIZONA STATE (9-6, 18-9) NET: 68

11 TCU (6-9, 18-10) NET: 43

11 OHIO STATE (8-9, 18-10) NET: 40

11 BELMONT (15-2, 24-4) NET: 45

LAST FOUR IN:

12 TEXAS (7-8, 15-13) NET: 36

12 ALABAMA (8-7, 17-11) NET: 48

12 MINNESOTA (8-10, 18-11) NET: 55

12 OKLAHOMA (5-10, 17-11) NET: 42

Source: greenvilleonline.com / Furman's early season non-conference win @ Villanova is helping to keep the surprising Paladins in the "Bubble" mix.

FIRST FOUR OUT:

FURMAN (13-2, 22-6) NET: 46

CLEMSON (7-8, 17-11) NET: 41

UTAH STATE (13-3, 23-6) NET: 34

DAVIDSON (11-4, 20-8) NET: 75

NEXT FOUR OUT:

DAYTON (11-4, 19-9) NET: 66

INDIANA (5-10, 14-14) NET: 58

GEORGETOWN (7-8, 17-11) NET: 72

LIBERTY (13-2, 24-6) NET: 63

It should be noted that both Lipscomb and Liberty are tied atop the Atlantic Sun Conference at the moment. Lipscomb is currently slotted as the automatic qualifier into the field out of the A-Sun, based on tie-break. If Lipscomb were to lose out to Liberty, they would be considered the "first team out" at the moment.

Source: frogsowar.com / TCU still has some work to do after losing at last-place West Virginia. It wasn't long ago the Hornes Frogs were 17-6 overall, but now at just 6-9 in the Big XII, and 18-10 overall, they have some work to do.

Furman has a solid NET rating of 46, and owns a significant non-conference road win at Villanova, which is still more impressive of a victory than anything Oklahoma or Clemson has done to date. That is going to keep the Paladins in the mix, especially considering the Southern Conference is surprisingly stronger than normal this season with Wofford at 25-4 overall and looking like an 8 or 9 seed.

It's a big weekend ahead for the college basketball "Bubble" - enjoy all of the action ahead of us, and as always, I would love to hear your comments below! Do agree with my "Bubble" assessment? Who's missing? Who do you think will ultimately receive a bid come selection sunday? As always, happy reading & writing!