Five College Basketball Bubble Teams Ready to Make a March Madness Push

It doesn’t take much foresight to point at a school ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 today — seven weeks from Selection Sunday — and declare they’re pretty good and deserve a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

It takes a little more skill to survey the bubble’s neighborhood and project which schools are prepared to make a nice leap and merit some March Madness.

That’s exactly what we’re going to do here: pick one school from each of the five power conferences and tell you why they’re going to make a move.

BIG TEN: UCLA (13-6)

If you haven’t noticed, Bruins boss Mick Cronin isn’t happy unless he’s unhappy. And, to be fair, he had a point when he complained about his squad having to play five of its first seven Big Ten games on the road.

But you know what happens when you play a bunch on the road? You eventually get a bunch at home.

The Bruins started a run of five home tilts in a six-game stretch with Tuesday’s 69-67 home upset of No. 4 Purdue. They’re favored to win all those home games, which should help them make their current 40 NET ranking more comfortable.

Something else that will help? Skyy Clark hasn’t played since Jan. 3, when he injured his hamstring in a loss at Iowa. Considering the senior guard ranks as UCLA’s No. 2 scorer (13.5 PPG) and among the nation’s top 20 3-point shooters (48.6%), his return could boost the Bruins’ offensive efficiency from competent to excellent. He’s also an above-average defender.

SEC: Auburn (12-7)

After the SEC dominated college basketball last year, it’s weird to see only five teams in the AP’s Top 25 and the NET’s top 25 — with No. 15 Vanderbilt the best team per AP and No. 14 Florida the leader per the NET.

It’s tempting to pick Auburn as the SEC school ready to make a run, especially considering Steven Pearl’s group has won three of its last four — capped by their first road win of the year Tuesday at Ole Miss.

But here’s the catch: the Tigers have a ton of tough road games remaining. The ruggedness starts Saturday at Florida, which has won five in a row, and continues with Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama, among others.

UNLV/George Mason/UCF transfer Keyshawn Hall has been everything Auburn hoped, as he averages 20.1 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting .476/.400/.866.

The trick for the Tigers is getting more efficiency out of point guard Tahaad Pettiford. Considered an All-American candidate in the preseason, he has managed just 61 assists versus 43 turnovers and shoots 27.0% from 3-point range. That limits a team’s upside.

ACC: SMU (14-5)

SMU hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2017 and hasn’t won a Tournament game since 1988, but this is the year both futility streaks end.

After starting ACC play on Jan. 3 with a 14-point home win over North Carolina that opened some eyes, SMU has dropped three of its five games to fall to 14-5 overall and 3-3 in the ACC heading into Saturday’s home game with Florida State.

Why does that sentence suggest the Mustangs are on the upswing? Because they’ve had the toughest ACC schedule to date. They’ve been to Duke and Clemson and hosted Virginia (and lost all three).

While an intriguing trip to Louisville awaits on Jan. 31, the Mustangs, who sit No. 30 in the NET, have a great chance to finish strong as they’re finished with the Tar Heels, Blue Devils, Tigers, Cavaliers and Virginia Tech.

P.S. Fifth-year point guard Kevin “Boopie” Miller, who grew up in Chicago being overshadowed by well-traveled Top 50 recruit Adam Miller (Illinois/LSU/Arizona State/Gonzaga), is the real deal. Boopie, who began his career at Central Michigan, averages 19.8 points and 6.8 assists per game while shooting .471/.388/.892.

BIG EAST: ST. JOHN’S (14-5)

St. John’s entered this season with huge expectations. Rick Pitino’s Red Storm were ranked No. 5 in the AP poll and No. 6 by the coaches, but they suffered nonconference losses to Alabama, Iowa State, Auburn and Kentucky. Then they committed the sin of losing to Providence on Jan. 3 at Madison Square Garden.

Even Pitino complained during the first half of the season about his team’s lack of a point guard. Since those complaints, though, the Red Storm (14-5, 7-1) have been red-hot.

They carry a five-game winning streak into Saturday’s Big East game at Xavier and have moved to No. 23 in the NET.

St. John’s surge has coincided with Texas transfer Dillon Mitchell’s return to the starting lineup. Over these five games, Mitchell has averaged 9.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 54.3% from the field.

BIG 12: WEST VIRGINIA (13-6)

West Virginia is a deep-cut pick that easily could go bust.

Here’s the scoop: the Mountaineers sit at No. 59 in the NET, so they need to make a big move to get into legitimate range of the NCAA at-large berth that eluded them last year when they were No. 51 on Selection Sunday.

The good news? First-year boss Ross Hodge’s crew has gone 12-0 at home.

The bad news? Prior to earning a 12-point win Wednesday at Arizona State, the Mountaineers hadn’t won anywhere but home. They went winless on neutral courts (Clemson, Xavier, Wake Forest, Ohio State) and got obliterated by 21 at Iowa State and 29 at Houston.

There’s no shame in losing to the Cyclones and Cougars, but they need to show more progress outside of Morgantown. Saturday’s game at top-ranked Arizona would be a great time to prove something and set the stage for the home stretch.

With nice depth and three fine shooters in Honor Huff (16.6 PPG, 38.9% on 3-point attempts), Brenen Lorient (10.6 PPG, 38.9%) and Treysen Eaglestaff (10.6 PPG, 36.4%), anything can happen.