Women’s college basketball bubble watch: Predictions for crowded Big Ten race to tournament

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As February continues, the bracket and seeding possibilities whittle away. The meat of conference play provides some of the very best basketball and most impactful games that we get throughout the entire season.

None of the top seeds are fully locked in, and there are some incredibly important games before the weekend for determining what the No. 1 and No. 2 seed lines look like. And, hey, we’ll also get the first selection committee Top 16 seed reveal on Sunday, giving some key insight into how the decision-makers view the upper crust of the field.

On Thursday, Kentucky hosts Texas in a massive game. Considering that the SEC currently has a three-way tie for first, and Kentucky sits a game back of the top three, this game could have sizable ramifications for March, similarly to South Carolina and Texas this past weekend.

Following that game comes our first crosstown showdown between UCLA and USC as Big Ten members. I’m still not used to the Big Ten commercial’s map including California, and I might not get to that point until the next sizable conference realignment. Do the Trojans knock off the final undefeated team in the country? Does UCLA increase its hold on the Big Ten with a rivalry win?

ACC

Locks: Notre Dame

Projected in: California, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, North Carolina State

On the bubble: Virginia Tech

Spotlight on: Virginia Tech

After last weekend, Stanford is officially out of bubble watch, entirely unlikely to make it to March Madness without winning the ACC tournament. That leaves Virginia Tech as the lone bubble team in the conference, as Louisville looks fairly solid at this point.

Key wins over Georgia Tech and Louisville bolster the Hokies’ resume. Currently 5-2 against the bottom half, they’ve cemented themselves as the bellwether of the ACC. Virginia Tech takes on North Carolina, Stanford, California, Boston College and Clemson in that order to close the year. Beating three teams in the lower tier would likely…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/women-college-basketball-bubble-watch-101606065.html

Author : The Athletic

Publish date : 2025-02-12 10:16:00

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