{"id":126254,"date":"2025-03-01T11:26:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T16:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=126254"},"modified":"2025-03-01T11:26:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T16:26:22","slug":"georgia-at-texas-ncaa-bracketology-for-several-bubble-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/01\/georgia-at-texas-ncaa-bracketology-for-several-bubble-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Bracketology: Big Weekend For Several Bubble Teams, Headlined by Texas vs. Georgia"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2024-25 NCAA college basketball<\/a> season is winding down with two weekends of the regular season left. However, there may not be a more crucial day for teams looking to improve their at-large bid resumes. According to ESPN<\/a>, there are 26 games this weekend, most on Sunday, that involve teams still in the running for an at-large bid. SEC matchups Oklahoma at Ole Miss<\/a> and Georgia<\/a> at Texas<\/a> appear to be the biggest games today.<\/p>\n

NCAA Bracketology: Big Weekend For Several Bubble Teams, Headlined by Texas vs. Georgia<\/h2>\n

The Georgia-Texas matchup is the biggest game on today’s docket for teams on the proverbial NCAA tournament bubble. The Longhorns (16-12) are among the last four teams in my bracketology<\/a>, while the Bulldogs kept their slim tourney chances alive with a huge victory earlier this week over Florida.<\/p>\n

Texas, No. 37 in Net Rankings, has lost two straight and six of eight. So, a loss by the Longhorns to the Bulldogs will knock them out of the First-Four Play-In game and could drop them down into the others with a slight chance of earning a tournament bid. Meanwhile, a Bulldog victory will not assure Georgia an NCAA tournament bid, but it would help.<\/p>\n

Georgia, No. 35 in the Net rankings, has lost nine of its last 12, even with its victory over Florida. The Bulldogs are just 3-8 away from Athens and six Quad I and II wins. Furthermore, eight of its 11 Quad I losses are by double digits, with four by 15 or more points.<\/p>\n

Other Top Games Today<\/h3>\n

Oklahoma (17-11) isn’t near as dire need as Texas and Georgia, but the Sooners are also on shaky tournament ground. OU is among my final four teams<\/a>, but a win at Ole Miss would likely put them in near-lock range. The Sooners have six wins away from Norman and eight victories in\u00a0 Quad I and II games.\u00a0 Ole Miss (19-9) is pretty secure, an eighth seed in by bracketology, though the Bulldogs enter today’s contest on a three-game losing streak.<\/p>\n

Nebraska (17-11), who are a No. 11 seed, and Wake Forest (19-9), a 10t seed, are other teams who can’t afford can’t afford a loss today. Nebraska is at\u00a0 Washington while Wake Forest hosts Notre Dame.\u00a0 Missouri at Vanderbilt, West Virginia at BYU, Cincinnati — one of my first four teams out — at Houston, SMU at Stanford, Xavier — another one of my first four teams out — vs. Creighton, and Utah State vs. Colorado are other very important contests.<\/p>\n

Movers and Shakers<\/h4>\n

The SEC leads the way with 11 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Other top conference bids include the Big Ten<\/a> (9), Big 12<\/a> (6), ACC<\/a> (5), and Big East<\/a> (4). The Mountain West (5) and the West Coast Conference (3) also garner multi-bids with a few weeks left in the regular season.<\/p>\n

While no NCAA at-large teams moved out since my initial bracket was released, there are new teams from the automatic bid league: the Arkansas State Red Wolves (Sun Belt, replaces James Madison), Liberty Flames (CUSA, replaces Jacksonville State), and Quinnipiac (MAAC, replaces Marist). All three teams sit at the top of their conference standings.<\/p>\n

Several teams moved up or down, as indicated below. The biggest movers were the VCU Rams and Memphis Tigers. VCU moved up from a seventh seed and five seed spots overall. Memphis is up to the fifth seed from No. 6 and five spots overall. Also, Alabama replaced Florida on the No. 1 line.<\/p>\n

No. 1 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Auburn Tigers<\/p>\n

Duke Blue Devils<\/p>\n

Houston Cougars: Moved up one spot<\/p>\n

Alabama Crimson Tide: Moved up one spot from a No. 2 seed<\/p>\n

No. 2 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Florida Gators:\u00a0 Moved down one spot from a No. 1 seed<\/p>\n

Michigan State Spartans<\/p>\n

Tennessee Volunteers<\/p>\n

St. John’s Red Storm:\u00a0 Moved up from third line and two spots overall.<\/p>\n

No. 3 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Clemson Tigers: Moved down one spot from a No. 2 seed<\/p>\n

St, Mary’s Gaels: Moved up two spots<\/p>\n

Iowa State Cyclones: Moved down one spot<\/p>\n

Texas Tech Red Raiders: Moved down one spot<\/p>\n

No. 4 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Michigan Wolverines: Moved up two spots<\/p>\n

Wisconsin Badgers: Moved down one spot<\/p>\n

Louisville Cardinals<\/p>\n

Utah State Aggies<\/p>\n

No. 5 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Texas A&M Aggies<\/p>\n

Memphis Tigers: Moved up a seeding line and five spots overall<\/p>\n

Maryland Terrapins: Moved down one spot<\/p>\n

Marquette Golden Eagles<\/p>\n

No. 6 Seeds<\/h3>\n

VCU Rams: Moved up a line and six spots<\/p>\n

Purdue Boilermakers: Moved up two spots<\/p>\n

New Mexico Lobos Moved down four spots and a line.<\/p>\n

Mississippi State Bulldogs Moved down two spots<\/p>\n

N0. 7 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Oregon Ducks: Moved up one spot<\/p>\n

UCLA Bruins: Moved down one line and two spots<\/p>\n

Missouri Tigers<\/p>\n

BYU Cougars<\/p>\n

No. 8 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Ole Miss Rebels<\/p>\n

Arizona Wildcats<\/p>\n

Creighton Bluejays<\/p>\n

Connecticut Huskies<\/p>\n

No. 9 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Gonzaga Bulldogs<\/p>\n

SMU Mustangs<\/p>\n

Kentucky\u00a0 Wildcats<\/p>\n

Kansas Jayhawks<\/p>\n

No. 10 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Vanderbilt Commodores<\/p>\n

San Diego State Aztecs: Moved up one spot<\/p>\n

Illinois Fighting Illini: Moved up one spot<\/p>\n

Wake Forest Demon Deacons: Moved down two spots<\/p>\n

No. 11 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Nebraska Cornhuskers<\/p>\n

Bosie State Broncos<\/p>\n

UC San Diego Tritons (Big West)<\/p>\n

Drake Bulldogs (MVC)<\/p>\n

No. 12 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Winner: Oklahoma\/ Colorado State<\/p>\n

Winner: Santa Clara\/ Texas<\/p>\n

Arkansas State Red Wolves (Sun Belt): New Team<\/p>\n

Liberty Flames: New Team<\/p>\n

N0. 13 Seeds<\/h3>\n

High Point Panthers: Dropped one line and three spots<\/p>\n

Robert Morris Colonials (Horizontal)<\/p>\n

Chattanooga Mocs (Southern)<\/p>\n

McNeese State Cowboys (Southland): Moved up one spot and one line<\/p>\n

No. 14 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Yale Bulldogs (Ivy): Moved Up 2 spots<\/p>\n

Akron Zips (MAAC):<\/p>\n

Lipscomb Bisons (Atlantic Sun):\u00a0 Moved down three spots<\/p>\n

Towson Tigers (Coastal Athletic: Moved Down from 13th Seed<\/p>\n

No. 15 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Utah Valley Wolverines (WAC): Moved down From 13 Seed<\/p>\n

Bryant Bulldogs (America East): Moved up from 16th seed<\/p>\n

Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (NEC):\u00a0 Moved up one spot<\/p>\n

Montana Grizzlies (Big Sky): Moved down three spots<\/p>\n

No. 16 Seeds<\/h3>\n

Norfork State Spartans(MEAC)<\/p>\n

Quinnipiac Bobcats (MAAC): New team<\/p>\n

Winner: Omaha Mavericks (Summit)\/ Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (Ohio Valley): Omaha moved down from No. 15 seed<\/p>\n

Winner: Southern Jaguars (SWAC)\u00a0 \/American Egles (Patriot)<\/p>\n

Last Four In<\/h3>\n

Oklahoma Sooners<\/p>\n

Santa Clara Broncos<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns<\/p>\n

Colorado State Rams<\/p>\n

First Four Out<\/h4>\n

George Mason Patriots<\/p>\n

Cincinnati Bearcats<\/p>\n

Xavier Musketeers<\/p>\n

North Carolina Tar Heels<\/p>\n

Next Four Out<\/h3>\n

West Virginia Mountaineers<\/p>\n

Arkansas Razorbacks<\/p>\n

Baylor Bears<\/p>\n

North Texas Mean Green<\/p>\n

Others Still With An Outside Chance<\/h3>\n

San Francisco Dons<\/p>\n

Indiana Hoosiers<\/p>\n

Villanova Wildcats<\/p>\n

Georgia Bulldogs<\/p>\n

Ohio State Buckeyes<\/p>\n

Bradley Braves<\/p>\n

Dayton Flyers<\/p>\n

UC Irvine Anteaters<\/p>\n

Oregon State Beavers<\/p>\n

Stanford Cardinal<\/p>\n

NCAA Regional Matchups<\/h3>\n

First Four In Dayton, Ohio<\/h4>\n

No.12 Oklahoma vs. No. 12 Colorado State<\/p>\n

No. 12 Santa Clara\u00a0 vs.\u00a0 No. 12 Texas<\/p>\n

No. 16\u00a0 Southern vs. No. 16 Omaha<\/p>\n

No. 16\u00a0 Southeast Missouri State vs. No. 16 American<\/p>\n

South Region<\/h4>\n

No. 1 Auburn Tigers vs. No. 16 First Four Winner of Southern\/American<\/p>\n

No. 8 UConn\u00a0 vs. No. 9 Kansas<\/p>\n

No. 4 Utah State vs. No. 13 McNeese State<\/p>\n

No. 5 Marquette vs. No. 12 Liberty<\/p>\n

No. 6\u00a0 \u00a0Mississippi State\u00a0 \u00a0vs. No. 11\u00a0 Drake<\/p>\n

No.3 Texas Tech vs. No. 14 Towson<\/p>\n

No. 7\u00a0 BYU\u00a0 \u00a0vs. No. 10 Wake Forest<\/p>\n

No. 2\u00a0 St. Johns vs. No. 15 Omaha Mavericks<\/p>\n

Midwest Region<\/h3>\n

No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 16 Norfolk<\/p>\n

No. 8 Arizona vs. No. 9 SMU Mustangs<\/p>\n

No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 13 Utah Valley Wolverines<\/p>\n

No. 5 Texas A&M vs. No. 12 First Four Game winner: Santa Clara \/Texas<\/p>\n

No. 6\u00a0 VCU\u00a0 \u00a0vs. No. 11\u00a0 Nebraska<\/p>\n

No.3\u00a0 Clemson vs. No. 14 Yale<\/p>\n

No. 7\u00a0 Oregon\u00a0 vs. No. 10 Vanderbilt<\/p>\n

No. 2\u00a0 Alabama\u00a0 vs. No. 15 Utah Valley<\/p>\n

East Region<\/h4>\n

No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 First Four Winner: Southeast Missouri State\/Omaha<\/p>\n

No. 8 Creighton vs. No. 9 Kentucky<\/p>\n

No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 13 Chattanooga<\/p>\n

No. 5 Maryland vs. No. 12 Arkansas State<\/p>\n

No. 6 New Mexico vs. No. 11 UC San Diego<\/p>\n

No.3 Iowa State\u00a0 vs. No. 14 Lipscomb<\/p>\n

No. 7\u00a0 Missouri vs. No. No. 10 Illinois<\/p>\n

No. 2\u00a0 Tennessee\u00a0 vs. No. 15 Central Connecticut<\/p>\n

West Region<\/h4>\n

No. 1 Houston\u00a0 vs. No. 16 Quinnipiac<\/p>\n

No. 8 Ole Miss\u00a0 vs. No. 9 Gonzaga<\/p>\n

No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 Towson<\/p>\n

No. 5 Memphis vs. First Four Winner: Oklahoma\/ Santa Clara<\/p>\n

No. 6 Purdue Boilermakers\u00a0 \u00a0vs. No. 11 Boise State<\/p>\n

No.3 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 14 Akron Zips<\/p>\n

No. 7\u00a0 UCLA\u00a0 vs. No. 10 San Diego State<\/p>\n

No. 2\u00a0 Michigan State vs. No. 15 Bryant<\/p>\n

Photo credit: \u00a9 Nelson Chenault, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2024-25 NCAA college basketball season is winding down with two weekends of the regular season left. However, there may not be a more crucial day for teams looking to improve their at-large bid resumes. According to ESPN, there are 26 games this weekend, most on Sunday, that involve teams still in the running for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":126411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,773],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-college-basketball"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126254"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126425,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126254\/revisions\/126425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}