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Bubble teams that have helped themselves today (3/7)

Helped themselves, so far

Utah St.- the Aggies won the MWC conference tournament to secure an automatic bid to take themselves off the bubble and shrink it by 1.

NC State- Wolfpack whipped Wake on Friday night to stay in good shape for an at large bid.

Richmond- Spiders picked up double digit win over Duquesne to keep their at large hopes alive on Friday.
Rutgers- picked up a much needed road win over fellow bubble team Purdue to likely completely knock Purdue off the bubble.

East Tennessee St.- the Buccaneers took care of business in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Tournament.

Oklahoma- Sooners kept their spot on the positive side of the bubble by coming back from 20 down to beat TCU and avoid a loss that could have put them on the wrong side of the bubble.

Mississippi St.- Bulldogs blow out Ole Miss by 25 to keep their chance alive and finish as the 4 seed in the SEC tournament. A couple of wins, including a probable quarterfinals game against Florida would likely lock MSU in the field.

Arizona St.- Sun Devils picked up a much needed win over WSU to stay on the good side of the bubble.

Hurt themselves today, so far.

Indiana- Hoosiers could've locked themselves in with a win over Wisconsin, but now find themselves needing a win or two in the B10 Tournament.

Purdue- home loss to Rutgers all but knocks Purdue out of any at large discussion.

Texas- after a great run to out themselves in the mix, a bad loss to Oklahoma St. likely means Texas has to beat Texas Tech on Thursday to have any hope of an at large bid.

Texas Tech- today's loss drops Tech to 13 losses. Their game against Texas on Thursday appears to be essentially an elimination game for an at large bid with the loser probably NIT bound at this point.

Marquette- Eagles took a bad loss to St. John's today that puts them firmly on the bubble at this point.

UCLA- Bruins had a chance to clinch a share of the PAC 12 title with a win over USC (still could share if Stanford beats Oregon tonight). UCLA couldn't win though and probably need to reach the PAC 12 title game to feel safe about an at large bid at this point.

Florida- Gators blew a big lead and a chance to move off the bubble into locked in territory. Gators need a win or two in the SEC tournament to really feel safe at this point.

Arkansas- Razorbacks slim hopes took a big hit today with a loss to Texas A&M today.

Tennessee- Vols needed to beat Auburn to keep their already slim hopes alive. A 22 point loss removes Tennessee from any bubble talk.

South Carolina- Gamecocks took possibly the worst loss of any bubble team by dropping a game against Vanderbilt. SC, like Arkansas and Tennessee, have probably played themselves off the bubble at this point.

Northern Iowa- Panthers got destroyed by Drake in quarterfinals of the MVC Tournament to end any at large hopes they had and send them to the NIT.

Other teams yet to play or go final today (3/7) with bubble implications:

Stanford at Oregon: Oregon looking for an outright Pac 12 title with a win and Stanford looking to lock themselves in with a big time road win.

Temple at Cincinnati: Bearcats probably move to right of bubble with a win tonight. Currently losing late in the 1st half in a game where neither team is lighting up the scoreboard.

Rhode Island at UMass: Rams up late in a game that could move them into the discussion for an at large bid if they make a run in the A10 Tournament. A loss sends them to the NIT unless they win the tournament.

Memphis at Houston: Tigers have to win to keep any hopes alive

Tulsa at Wichita St.- Tulsa could win an outright AAC title with a win and move into the field with a first game win in the AAC Tournament. WSU has to win because they need another quality win to keep any hopes they have alive. A loss probably moves them off the bubble barring a run to the AAC title game.

I might be missing someone at this point, but I think I covered most everyone in the discussion.

Rhode Island tried giving the game away against UMass, but the pull out a 1 point win on the road to keep their at large chances alive. They still need to make a run in the A10 Tournament title game and beat Richmond in the semifinals to give themselves a real chance at an at large.

Cincinnati avoids disaster against Temple at home and pulls off a 1 point win.

Xavier trailing in a tight game with Butler that would help greatly boost Xavier's chances of an at large bid.

Belmont has won the OVC tournament, joining Utah State with an Automatic Bid.

Kamar Baldwin nails a 3 with 1.2 seconds left to give Butler the win over Xavier. Butler finished with 36 points tonight. The loss knocks Xavier down to the 7 seed in the Big East Tournament and Xavier may need two win now at this point to lock in to the field. They're going to play DePaul first and assuming they win that one, would play Villanova.

Last bubble affecting game of the night tips off in a few minutes in Eugene, Oregon as Stanford tries to lock themselves into the field with a win and Oregon tries to wrap up an outright Pac 12 title. I probably won't be awake for the end of it, but a big game in regards to tournament implications.

Oregon knocked off Stanford by 13 to win the PAC 12 outright. The loss doesn't really hurt Stanford, but now they probably need two wins in the PAC 12 Tournament to feel good about their chances.

@Texas-Hawk-10 Thanks, Hawk. Who needs Joe Lunardi when we have such committed poster here.

Speaking of bracketology, Archie's little rant. 🐦 View Tweet

@wissox I had to double check that this is real. Apparently it is. Yikes.

@wissox said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

Speaking of bracketology, Archie's little rant. 🐦 View Tweet

Crazy thought here, don't have a losing conference record and then complain when you might be on the wrong side of the bubble.

Video: 🐦 View Tweet

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@wissox said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

Speaking of bracketology, Archie's little rant. 🐦 View Tweet

Crazy thought here, don't have a losing conference record and then complain when you might be on the wrong side of the bubble.

Classic Boeheim syndrome.

Thanks for your efforts!

Texas Tech should be in. They pass the eye test but we know it takes more than that to qualify.

@drgnslayr I would agree but man, they went from firmly in to shooting themselves in both feet these last couple weeks. 4 game losing streak, lost 5 of their last 7 only beating the absolute dregs of the league KSuck and UMKCISU.

This is a crazy year for bubble teams. In a normal year, UCLA is nowhere near the bubble with a NET rating in the 70's right now. With the P5 leagues generally down this year (3 of the top 5 overall seeds in the NCAA Tournament are probably going to be mid major conference teams), I'd rather see programs like Richmond and UNI get at large bids over sub .500 in conference P5 schools. I'm hoping schools like ETSU, SFA, Liberty all win their tournaments, but those are the teams I'd rather see in the field this year.

@drgnslayr said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

Thanks for your efforts!

Texas Tech should be in. They pass the eye test but we know it takes more than that to qualify.

Problem for Tech is they don't have a high volume of good wins. They only have 2 wins over teams that are tournament locks at this point (Louisville and WVU). They also have 13 losses is very uncommon for 14 loss teams to get an at large bid. 3 of Tech's losses are not good losses, DePaul, TCU, and OSU aren't losses that hold up well against the lack of quality wins.

I'm gonna say this, the loser of Texas-Texas Tech game on Thursday is going to the NIT this year and the winner will end up in a First Four game in Dayton. That's where I'm at with those two teams right now.

As for today's slate of games (3/8), there are 4 games that affect the bubble. All bubble watchers eyes will be on the American today with a pair of games.

Tulsa at Wichita St.

Both teams are both squarely on the bubble. The winner will probably be on the good side of the bubble for now and loser likely needs to beat Houston in the AAC Tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament. Also, a win by Tulsa would give the Golden Hurricane the outright AAC title.

Memphis at Houston

Memphis needs this win to get into the bubble discussion as a season sweep of UH would look good on their resume. Even with a win over UH, the Tigers will have work to do in the AAC Tournament to get in the NCAA Tournament. A loss will send Penny to the NIT again.

Lipscomb at Liberty

With a win in the Atlantic Sun title game, Liberty would get the automatic bid and not have to worry about whether they'll get an at large bid next Sunday. With a loss, they'll be sweating it out during the selection show. Liberty is a big favorite today, but Lipscomb is one of the Flames 4 losses on the season and both games were close in the regular season.

Western Carolina vs. East Tennessee State

The Bucs are looking to advance to the SoCon title game with a win the semifinals today. ETSU is pretty much in the same boat as Liberty. A loss will make for a very long Selection Sunday, but SoCon Tournament title removes that. ETSU is a really good team and I'd rather see them get an at large (if needed) over a team like Indiana. KU only beat the Bucs by 12 back in November and they have a win at LSU as well.

Those are the 4 games to keep an eye on today.

Memphis at Houston tips at 11am on CBS.

Lipscomb at Liberty tips at 2pm on ESPN

Tulsa at Wichita St. tips at 3pm on CBSSN

WCU vs. ETSU tips at 3pm on ESPN+

All times are Central.

There are 3 automatic bids on the line today.

The above mentioned A-Sun title game between Lipscomb and Liberty.

The Big South title game is today between Hampton and Winthrop 12pm on ESPN

Also, the Missouri Valley title is on the line between Valparaiso and Bradley on CBS after the Mem/Hou game.

@BShark said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@wissox said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

Speaking of bracketology, Archie's little rant. 🐦 View Tweet

Crazy thought here, don't have a losing conference record and then complain when you might be on the wrong side of the bubble.

Classic Boeheim syndrome.

Absolutely

@Texas-Hawk-10 Faith in Haith! I would not have guessed Tulsa would win that league.

Both Miller brothers seem like d-bags, them and Cal are coaches I just can’t stand. They seem counterfeit as soon as their mouths open.

Memphis and Houston are tied with a little over 16 minutes left.

Also, it's really cool hearing Houston alum Jim Nance call a UH game on national TV.

Quentin Grimes has gone off for Houston in the second half. Grimes is the biggest reason UH is now up 13 with a little over 2 minutes left.

Houston knocks off Memphis to knock the Tigers off the bubble. Memphis now needs to reach the AAC title game at a minimum to have any shot at an at large and probably needs to win the the AAC Tournament which will be harder than normal for them since that tournament isn't in Memphis this year. The AAC Tournament will be played at the new Dickies Arena in Ft. Worth this season.

@Texas-Hawk-10 how close are you to Fort Worth? Would be fun to watch, I think 5 teams could win that tournament given the right day.

@kjayhawks said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@Texas-Hawk-10 how close are you to Fort Worth? Would be fun to watch, I think 5 teams could win that tournament given the right day.

I live in Houston so I have no plans to make the 4 hour drive to Ft. Worth for that tournament. I might go check out the Southland Tournament at some point though since that's in the Houston area.

Valparaiso with a 2 point lead over Bradley at halftime of the MVC Title game.

@Texas-Hawk-10 haha don’t blame you

Winthrop beats underdog Hampton (KenPom #311) after trailing at halftime to win the Big South bid.

For what it's worth, Bracketology has Winthrop as a 16 seed, facing KU in the first round.

Liberty wins the A-Sun title game and bubble teams rejoice as the Flames were a potential bubble team had they lost.

Wichita St. picked up a much needed win and did so with style today blowing out Tulsa at home by 22 points.

With this loss, Tulsa probably needs a run to the AAC title game in order to keep their at large hopes alive.

@Texas-Hawk-10 I like WSUs odds to get in if they can win a couple of games in Fort Worth. I really want to play them.

@kjayhawks said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@Texas-Hawk-10 I like WSUs odds to get in if they can win a couple of games in Fort Worth. I really want to play them.

If they get two wins, they'll definitely be in because their second game should be against Houston.

ETSU rolled to an easy victory over Western Carolina in the semifinals of the SoCon to advance to the title game against either Wofford or Chattanooga who are tied late in the second half.

Give me more good dance.... I'm of the opinion that regardless of team or conference affiliation no one should be invited to the tournament unless having a .500 record or better.

Bubble watch results for Sunday 3/8.

Helped themselves

Wichita St.- the Shockers needed a good win and got one by blowing out Tulsa and denying Tulsa an outright AAC title. Shockers still have some work to do to lock themselves in though.

Liberty- the Flames won the A-Sun Tournament title to get the automatic bid and not need to sweat it out Selection Sunday.

East Tennessee State- the Bucs reached the SoCon title game with a win in the semifinals.

Hurt themselves

Memphis- Tigers couldn't stop former Jayhawk Quentin Grimes on the 2nd half and suffered a double digit loss to Houston in a game Memphis needed. Now the Tigers will need to reach the AAC title game and probably win the tournament to get the automatic bid.

Tulsa- the Golden Hurricane's at large bid hopes took a big hit with their 22 point loss at Wichita St. Tulsa was also denied the outright AAC title and probably need to win the tournament at this point.

Bubble games for 3/9

There's only one game today that will impact the bubble and that is the SoCon Tournament title game. East Tennessee State takes on Wofford for the SoCon's automatic bid. Bubble teams will be cheering for the Bucs to take that automatic bid and remove themselves from the bubble pool.

Watching East Tennessee and Wofford. First half only took about 40 minutes real time. Can't think of a men's game I've seen lately that went that fast.

Would've been nice to have something like that as the lead-in to KU games, instead of missing the first 5 or 10 minutes as usual.

Good guy Steve locked in that tournament bid.

🐦 View Tweet

Bubble teams are rejoicing tonight as ETSU comes alive in the 2nd half to roll to an easy victory in the SoCon title game and clinch an automatic bid and remove themselves from the bubble pool.

@BShark Steve Forbes should be headed to a power 5 job as soon as he wants it.

@kjayhawks Absolutely. 75% win rate in D1 and 77% total as a HC. Has done a great job building the ETSU program back up.

Zags avoid the upset bid from San Francisco. If they weren't a lock as a 1 seed before, that should nail it down.

USF played them tough earlier this year as well...probably NIT bound. 22 wins in a good mid-major.

@nwhawkfan said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

Zags avoid the upset bid from San Francisco. If they weren't a lock as a 1 seed before, that should nail it down.

USF played them tough earlier this year as well...probably NIT bound. 22 wins in a good mid-major.

The WCC is improved over the last few years. USF is a good team

USF has a good young coach too. A mixed bag of international players. 3 of their top 4 players will return which gives them a chance to keep competitive

No games with bubble implications today, but there are 5 automatic bids on the line today.

The Horizon League final between UIC and Northern Kentucky on ESPN at 6pm (Central)

The NEC title game between St. Francis (PA) and Robert Morris on ESPN2 at 6pm (Central)

The Colonial title game between Northeastern and Hofstra on CBSSN at 6pm (Central)

Gonzaga and St. Mary's on ESPN at 8pm (Central) for the WCC title.

North Dakota and NDSU for the Summit League title on ESPN2 at 8pm (Central).

The first of power conference tournaments also gets going today as the ACC Tournament gets underway with 2 games today. Pitt and Wake Forest in what could be Danny Manning's final game as head coach at Wake. The other game is UNC and VA Tech. As bad as UNC has been this year, that team still has a lot of talent capable of making a run in the ACC Tournament so I'll be curious to see what they do this week.

Creighton's PG and 2nd leading scorer is doubtful for the Big-East tournament with a knee injury..

I have been a big proponent over the years that at-large bids should only go to teams that have a .500 overall record and a .500 record in conference. There's no point in giving credit to playing a bunch of tough teams, but losing most of those games.

That rule would mean that the following schools would be eliminated from the Bubble as of now:

ACC - Clemson

Big 12 - TCU

Big East - Marquette, Xavier

Big Ten - Purdue, Indiana, Minnesota

That's seven schools that would be off the bubble watch, and looking to win their conference tournament to get in.

It would also make the last couple of weeks of conference play more interesting, as teams potentially on the bubble would be playing virtual play in games to qualify, like Indiana was faced with over the last couple of weeks. Indiana finished Big Ten play at 9-11, so they were one win away from being .500. That would have made this weekend's home game against Wisconsin a game to remain at-large eligible. That makes the road loss to Illinois even bigger, not to mention the egg they laid at Purdue.

It just makes things that much more interesting for both P5 schools, and for the top teams from mid majors, most of whom are currently shut out by the 9th place team from a P5 conference.

Just my opinion, though.

I love that we never have to worry about "bubble watch"

Lot's of interesting games will be played in the major conference tournaments. I think the B12 is set outside of Texas, I believe they have to beat Tech and maybe even the winner of our game to feel comfortable. I don't see a major upset coming in this conference, I bet whomever wins it is already in the field of 68. The most intriguing games this week are in the Pac 12, Big 10 and SEC IMO. The Pac 12 has a good share of teams that will make or break their chances. Stanford, UCLA and ASU all probably need at least one win maybe two for Stanford. I think this conference has a chance to have an upset and a team on the outside gets the Auto-Bid. I think Oregon is a solid team but the rest are evenly matched, if someone can upset the ducks, it's anyone's game. I personally don't think its anything other than the usual suspects in the B10. Maryland, MSU and Wisconsin have the best teams and one of those teams gets it done. Indiana is really the only bubble team for that conference, Purdue has an outside shot. If one of those teams can win 2 games, maybe even 3 for Purdue. They should get in but Purdue would have to play MSU in the second game and I think that's a easy win for the Spartans. The SEC I think is another where you could see a team get in that wouldn't without winning the tournament. Mississippi state, Florida and South Carolina are teams that still have a chance to get an at large bid. I wouldn't sleep on Arkansas, they got back their man guy (forget his name) and he makes them a much better team. With Florida and Kentucky on the top side and the other 3 on the bottom side. I think the one of the trio of MSU, SC and Arkansas gets to the title game and upsets UK or Florida for the auto -bid.

Edit: i don't care care about the ACC lol

@kjayhawks SC is toast if they don't win the SEC tourney. Women's team going strong, though!

@kjayhawks Texas/Tech is essentially an elimination game as I can't see the loser getting an at large bid.

In the PAC12, If Stanford beats Cal, they would play UCLA in what should essentially be another elimination game.

Add Yale to list of NCAA Tournament teams as the Ivy League announced they have cancelled their post season tournaments giving their automatic bids to the regular season champs.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

Add Yale to list of NCAA Tournament teams as the Ivy League announced they have cancelled their post season tournaments giving their automatic bids to the regular season champs.

yet to be determined. - - Tommy Amker and others are petitioning to play tourney games anyways could get messy

@Texas-Hawk-10 I’d be fine if the B12 did the same but too much money at stake for the bigger conferences.

Northern Kentucky, Hofstra, and Robert Morris have all punched their tickets to the NCAA Tournament. North Dakota State appears well on their way to the NCAA Tournament as well.

St. Mary's over Gonzaga?

@Marco doesn’t look like it, up 12 with 10 minutes to go. Game is on ESPN currently

@kjayhawks lol, that was earlier.

@Marco the game is live right now on ESPN bud.

@kjayhawks I know, that is what I was watching. It was tight then.

@Marco I see, Gonzaga ended up spanking them.

@kjayhawks said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@Marco I see, Gonzaga ended up spanking them.

Saint Mary's was up 5 at one point late in the 1st half when I checked on my (when I posted the 3 automatic bids from the early games actually) and only down 1 at halftime. Gonzaga smoked them in the 2nd half.

Gonzaga and NDSU each rolled to easy wins to wrap their bids.

Gonzaga will be the 1 seed out west and probably the 2nd overall seed behind KU.

Recap

Automatic bids given out today:

CAA: Hofstra

Horizon: Northern Kentucky

Ivy: Yale (Regular season champs since Ivy cancelled their post season tournament)

NEC: Robert Morris (potential 1st round KU opponent)

Summit: North Dakota St.

WCC: Gonzaga

There are no automatic bids on the line tomorrow, but there are several games involving bubble teams as all the major conferences will get underway tomorrow if they weren't already underway (ACC). I believe the American will be the only conference tournament not underway tomorrow as they start on Thursday.

In the ACC, NC State takes on Pitt in a game the Wolfpack must win to stay in the mix.

In the Big 10, Indiana will take on Nebraska in a game the Hoosiers must win. Nebraska actually added a couple of football players to the basketball team because of how shorthanded they are now with a couple of suspensions that got handed out.

In the PAC 12, Stanford takes on Cal in a game the Cardinal have to win to get a crack at UCLA in what should amount to an elimination game from the NCAA Tournament for those two. A loss to Cal will send Haase to the NIT.

In the SEC, Arkansas takes on Vanderbilt in a game the Razorbacks must win to whatever hopes they have left alive.

Okie State edges ISU in a back-and-forth finish to open the B12 tourney. Cowboys face KU tomorrow.

@nwhawkfan the refs edged ISU garbage calls late put okie state at the line often in the last 5 minutes.

DePaul knocks Xavier out of the Big East tournament. Musketeers were already on the bubble.

Ex-Jayhawk Charlie Moore with 18 points (including 4 threes) and 9 assists for the Blue Demons.

Xavier goes down in the 1st round of the Big East Tournament to DePaul. This will probably bump Xavier into the NIT.

Stanford also probably blew any tournament hopes they had with a loss to Cal.

Arkansas got a 13 point win over Vanderbilt to keep their chances alive.

Indiana with a 25 point win today over Nebraska. Obviously not the story in this game with the Fred Hoiberg situation and Nebraska's players being quarantined inside their locker room right now. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the B10 Tournament if Hoiberg or someone tests positive for COVID-19.

@nwhawkfan yeah!

@Texas-Hawk-10 maybe it's the flu, he'd be awfully stupid w/his heart problem not to be seeing a dr.

As of now, games involving bubble teams for Thursday 3/12 include:

ACC

NC State vs. Duke:. NCSU is probably in at this point, but another win over Duke would lock the Wolfpack in for sure.

American

Memphis vs. ECU: Memphis needs a run in this tournament to reach the NCAA's and their journey starts against the Pirates in a must win game for Memphis.

Big 12

Texas vs. Texas Tech:. Winner should be locked into the NCAA's and loser may very well be NIT bound.

Oklahoma vs. West Virginia: Sooners need a win to feel safe on Sunday

Big East

Marquette vs. Seton Hall: Marquette is a long shot for an at large right now, but wins over Seton Hall and Villanova could change that one.

Big 10

Indiana vs. Penn St.: Indiana got a much needed win today, but a win over an at large team in Penn St. should solidify Indiana into the dance.

Pac 12

UCLA vs. Cal: Bruins have to win to keep their hopes alive although they should feel better with Stanford losing tonight

Arizona St. vs. Colorado/Washington St.: Sun Devil's are right there in that last 4 in, last 4 byes group so a loss may not eliminate them if it's to Colorado. A win locks ASU into the dance.

SEC

Arkansas vs. South Carolina

SC must win to keep their slim hopes alive and a win for Arkansas should lock the Razorbacks into the dance.

There was one automatic bid given today to Boston University as they won the Patriot League tonight.

@Texas-Hawk-10 nice avatar!

@approxinfinity Thank you.

Just in case anyone is wondering, the asterisk is not for the NCAA, it says COVID-19 at the bottom of the banner.

One of the saddest parts of this is the players not getting to showcase their talents. A lot of these guys have been dreaming of playing in this tournament and winning it since they were kids. They started a journey in September and survived the bumps, bruises of the regular season. People were talking about Doke never playing in the B12 conference tournament. The dude was here for 4 years and played in one NCAA tournament. That ended up being a pretty good year by the way. Moss transfered in to become a champion. He did that but he’ll always wonder what would’ve happened this month. Dotson barely got his feet wet in March madness last year and seemed to have a chip on his shoulder to make it farther. I hate it for these young men.

Appreciate your work @Texas-Hawk-10. This would’ve been a fun tournament.

Seeing Dokes snapchats are heartbreaking

Of the three who are likely to leave, this abrupt end probably impacts Moss the most. He never got to have a Malik Newman moment.

@bskeet said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

Of the three who are likely to leave, this abrupt end probably impacts Moss the most. He never got to have a Malik Newman moment.

I hope he has the opportunity to come back.

@kjayhawks said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

Seeing Dokes snapchats are heartbreaking

I can't even look. I just can't

@FarmerJayhawk said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@bskeet said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

Of the three who are likely to leave, this abrupt end probably impacts Moss the most. He never got to have a Malik Newman moment.

I hope he has the opportunity to come back.

Self currently submitting his trade request for Josell's scholly

Been watching ESPN a lot this morning because I have nothing better to do at this point, the discussion about granting an extra year of eligibility to impacted seniors has been one of the hot topics today.

Thinking about this practically and objectively, I don't think I would support granting an extra year of eligibility for winter sports athletes because most of those sports were either already complete or very near completion.

The issue you'd run into for winter sports programs is a program like Iowa St. men's basketball this season where they finished their season with a loss to Oklahoma St. and would not have competed in any of the postseason tournaments. Would it be fair to give those seniors an extra season of eligibility when they completed their entire senior season?

To me, the winter sports would be too messy to try and grant and extra year of eligibility when those sports were very near completion.

The spring sports are another issue though. Those seasons either hadn't started yet or were still pretty close to the beginning of their seasons. Those are the sports I would look at the logistics of granting every athlete in those sports an extra year of eligibility and granting an exemption on scholarship limits in those sports.

Baseball for example allows 27 players to divide up 11.7 scholarships. Allow programs to go to 33 players for a recruiting cycle and grant 14.6 scholarships to keep the ratios in line with current NCAA limits.

Obviously not all of these athletes would take these deals because some like baseball players may get drafted and decide to begin their pro careers and some decide that because they are graduating this year, would rather transition into their post academic careers.

I would love to see this option extended to spring sports athletes should they want to go that route.

@Texas-Hawk-10 It seems like the right hting to do is to not cancel the tournament. I wonder if they can walk that one back if things get under control.

@Texas-Hawk-10 I looked at ESPN thinking they might, you know, focus on the favorite to win it all and how it impacts them. Well nothing about our team which I guess doesn’t matter but is still proof ESPN has flyover country virus.

@wissox

I'm surprised they weren't in Durham looking for a Zion update

@approxinfinity said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@Texas-Hawk-10 It seems like the right hting to do is to not cancel the tournament. I wonder if they can walk that one back if things get under control.

There's several issues with trying to reschedule the tournament that made cancelling it the right call and Jay Bilas did a great job of explaining those issues. I'm not going to go into detail, I'm sure you can YouTube his statements because he made them on just every morning show on ESPN.

Basically it has to deal with time. Trying to rebook 14 venues when we don't know when the tournament would even be able to safely take place is the biggest hurdle. Another hurdle wants going to be TV. Most people wanted the tournament postponed thought it could be played in May. That's when season finales of shows are so now you'd be looking at rearranging the schedules for CBS/TBS/TNT to accommodate that. On top of that, when/if the NBA resumed around that time, there would be a chance to competing against the NBA Playoffs which TNT broadcasts. The other big hurdle would be the players themselves. Without a known date for when the NCAA Tournament could happen, guys like Dotson and Doke likely wouldn't be in Lawrence at that point any way. They would be off in some other city training for the NBA Combine gearing up for that.

Postponing and playing at a later date is a great idea in theory, but when the actual logistics of making it happen come into play, cancelling was the only real option the NCAA had.

They could've pushed pause and regrouped. Got some coaches and experts together. Pretty quick decision. This thing could get worse, no doubt. But? Maybe just play top 20 teams? Test teams. Something

@Crimsonorblue22 said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

They could've pushed pause and regrouped. Got some coaches and experts together. Pretty quick decision. This thing could get worse, no doubt. But? Maybe just play top 20 teams? Test teams. Something

Again, the issue is when would the tournament be played? We don't know when the virus will be contained enough to allow for the travel of players, staff, officials, and fans to compete with minimal risk. There was a ref at the CAA Tournament that tested positive yesterday so now you have those teams affected by this.

This isn't like the NBA where you could push the season by into July or August if needed. Most of the seniors in the NCAA/NIT wouldn't be able to play at that point because they'll have started their post academic careers in the private sector.

There's a pretty hard deadline of when you could realistically play the NCAA Tournament and that's May. Let's say the NCAA tentatively set the NCAA Tournament for May to conclude on Memorial Day. What happens when the NBA and NHL resume and there's a conflict of schedule between the NBA/NHL/NCAA on a game day because that would be a possibility.

The NCAA Tournament runs in 14 venues and and depending on how the NBA and NHL resumed their seasons, 7 of those 14 venues are home to NBA and/or NHL teams so there'd be logistics of working those conflicts out and that's just for the men's tournament. On the women's side, you'd have 2 more venues that could run into conflict with the NBA in New Orleans and Portland.

There's just too many question marks and hurdles for the NCAA to realistically put on the NCAA Tournament this season.

@Texas-Hawk-10 I know, that's why I say wait and see. I'm afraid myself. Gotta be a way.

@Crimsonorblue22 said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@Texas-Hawk-10 I know, that's why I say wait and see. I'm afraid myself. Gotta be a way.

There's not a way this can realistically be done without knowing when the spread of this virus will subside enough to start organizing stuff. It's taken China roughly 3 months to start getting this thing under control. Fast forward 3 months and it's mid-June before something could realistically be put together. By that time, seniors will have graduated and moved onto their phase of life in whatever job they have lined up for their post athletic career.

Most of the top college stars will be long gone from campus training for the NBA and depending on how they adjust their schedule, may have already been drafted to a team so would that NBA franchise want to risk that player's future in the NCAA Tournament at that point?

Even if something could be cobbled together at this point, the tournament would be watered down from a lack of top talent playing in it that we wouldn't have a real champ.

It sucks because of how good this KU team was and they had a real good shot at the title this year, but it's not realistic to be able to put on an event of that magnitude with so many moving parts and unknowns about when it could even happen.

Just coming across is that the NCAA is going to grant an extra season of eligibility to all spring sports athletes. They are looking into the same for winter sports athletes as well.

A good first step for the NCAA and surprising to see how quickly this came about. The NCAA still needs to work out the logistics for the spring sports, but since none of those are revenue generating sports, I’m guessing they’ll do an exemption on the number of scholarships and athletes for the next 3 years in accordance with limits already in place for each sport.

I think re: winter sports you could treat them all as possible medical redshirts. If they want to come back, apply for a 5th year if they haven’t completed their season. For example, UNC did finish their year by losing in the ACC Tournament so nobody there should be eligible. Anyone whose season was cut short should he eligible and the programs should honor all signed LOI’s. So for us, Doke and Moss should be eligible to come back and we should also be able to add Bryce, Tyon, Gethro, and Lattrell. I don’t think I’d be in favor of giving all winter sports SA’s a redshirt for this year. The downstream effects for smaller AD’s would really hurt their finances. Just limit to seniors who had their year cut short.

Where would it be played: Paige arena. No one’s using it this time of year. And who cares if Coronavirus gets set loose in Columbia?

@FarmerJayhawk said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

I think re: winter sports you could treat them all as possible medical redshirts. If they want to come back, apply for a 5th year if they haven’t completed their season. For example, UNC did finish their year by losing in the ACC Tournament so nobody there should be eligible. Anyone whose season was cut short should he eligible and the programs should honor all signed LOI’s. So for us, Doke and Moss should be eligible to come back and we should also be able to add Bryce, Tyon, Gethro, and Lattrell. I don’t think I’d be in favor of giving all winter sports SA’s a redshirt for this year. The downstream effects for smaller AD’s would really hurt their finances. Just limit to seniors who had their year cut short.

I still wouldn't be in favor of extending this to winter sports athletes unless they were already previously eligible for a medical redshirt. It would be too much of a logistical pain in the butt to go through every roster of every sport to determine who would be eligible for something like that. Then you'd have to find out who would take up that offer and figure out what it would do to roster and scholarship numbers. To me, it's just not worth it because then you'll also get other coaches saying why didn't "Player X" get this opportunity as well?

Winter sports are either finished or more than 75% completed and at that point, it sucks, but move on.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@FarmerJayhawk said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

I think re: winter sports you could treat them all as possible medical redshirts. If they want to come back, apply for a 5th year if they haven’t completed their season. For example, UNC did finish their year by losing in the ACC Tournament so nobody there should be eligible. Anyone whose season was cut short should he eligible and the programs should honor all signed LOI’s. So for us, Doke and Moss should be eligible to come back and we should also be able to add Bryce, Tyon, Gethro, and Lattrell. I don’t think I’d be in favor of giving all winter sports SA’s a redshirt for this year. The downstream effects for smaller AD’s would really hurt their finances. Just limit to seniors who had their year cut short.

I still wouldn't be in favor of extending this to winter sports athletes unless they were already previously eligible for a medical redshirt. It would be too much of a logistical pain in the butt to go through every roster of every sport to determine who would be eligible for something like that. Then you'd have to find out who would take up that offer and figure out what it would do to roster and scholarship numbers. To me, it's just not worth it because then you'll also get other coaches saying why didn't "Player X" get this opportunity as well?

Winter sports are either finished or more than 75% completed and at that point, it sucks, but move on.

I don’t think it would be that difficult, honestly. There’s not going to be many unknowns. Each AD knows who their seniors are and could apply for extra eligibility if they had games canceled. If they don’t want to come back, they can make that decision later. I think the key is just saying if you’re a senior and had games canceled you get an extra year. All signed LOI’s are still valid so rosters will expand for a year. I asked my sister about this yesterday and she said they could do it in hours, especially now that they all have some extra time on their hands.

@Crimsonorblue22 said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

They could've pushed pause and regrouped. Got some coaches and experts together. Pretty quick decision. This thing could get worse, no doubt. But? Maybe just play top 20 teams? Test teams. Something

I think they would have done that if they had known when they were pausing until. The unknown is what doomed the tournament.

@FarmerJayhawk said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@FarmerJayhawk said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

I think re: winter sports you could treat them all as possible medical redshirts. If they want to come back, apply for a 5th year if they haven’t completed their season. For example, UNC did finish their year by losing in the ACC Tournament so nobody there should be eligible. Anyone whose season was cut short should he eligible and the programs should honor all signed LOI’s. So for us, Doke and Moss should be eligible to come back and we should also be able to add Bryce, Tyon, Gethro, and Lattrell. I don’t think I’d be in favor of giving all winter sports SA’s a redshirt for this year. The downstream effects for smaller AD’s would really hurt their finances. Just limit to seniors who had their year cut short.

I still wouldn't be in favor of extending this to winter sports athletes unless they were already previously eligible for a medical redshirt. It would be too much of a logistical pain in the butt to go through every roster of every sport to determine who would be eligible for something like that. Then you'd have to find out who would take up that offer and figure out what it would do to roster and scholarship numbers. To me, it's just not worth it because then you'll also get other coaches saying why didn't "Player X" get this opportunity as well?

Winter sports are either finished or more than 75% completed and at that point, it sucks, but move on.

I don’t think it would be that difficult, honestly. There’s not going to be many unknowns. Each AD knows who their seniors are and could apply for extra eligibility if they had games canceled. If they don’t want to come back, they can make that decision later. I think the key is just saying if you’re a senior and had games canceled you get an extra year. All signed LOI’s are still valid so rosters will expand for a year. I asked my sister about this yesterday and she said they could do it in hours, especially now that they all have some extra time on their hands.

Would it be fair if KU could bring back Isaiah Moss and UNC couldn't bring back Christian Keeling simply because of the schedule of the conference tournament?

UNC's season was done and KU's wasn't because of the timing and size of the ACC and Big 12 Tournaments so is it fair to tell Keeling that he can't come back because of of UNC having an unusually bad season? What if UNC had beaten Syracuse on Wednesday? Would you give someone like Keeling a full because of missing out on likely one game?

Another issue with your scenario would be Mitch Lightfoot. How would your plan affect someone in his position? A player who redshirts what would be his senior year due to PT issues. Would he have to redshirt another season? What would happen to player at a smaller school in the same boat, but the players in front of him return to school because of your plan and now that player is still stuck without PT. Does he get to redshirt again and now miss two years of games or is that player stuck behind those other players and have to transfer out if he wants to play?

In a situation like this, it needs to be a blanket rule to me. Either everyone (all classes) are granted an extra year of eligibility or nobody is. I don't believe you can cherry pick who gets that opportunity because of scheduling which is something beyond a player's control.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@FarmerJayhawk said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@FarmerJayhawk said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

I think re: winter sports you could treat them all as possible medical redshirts. If they want to come back, apply for a 5th year if they haven’t completed their season. For example, UNC did finish their year by losing in the ACC Tournament so nobody there should be eligible. Anyone whose season was cut short should he eligible and the programs should honor all signed LOI’s. So for us, Doke and Moss should be eligible to come back and we should also be able to add Bryce, Tyon, Gethro, and Lattrell. I don’t think I’d be in favor of giving all winter sports SA’s a redshirt for this year. The downstream effects for smaller AD’s would really hurt their finances. Just limit to seniors who had their year cut short.

I still wouldn't be in favor of extending this to winter sports athletes unless they were already previously eligible for a medical redshirt. It would be too much of a logistical pain in the butt to go through every roster of every sport to determine who would be eligible for something like that. Then you'd have to find out who would take up that offer and figure out what it would do to roster and scholarship numbers. To me, it's just not worth it because then you'll also get other coaches saying why didn't "Player X" get this opportunity as well?

Winter sports are either finished or more than 75% completed and at that point, it sucks, but move on.

I don’t think it would be that difficult, honestly. There’s not going to be many unknowns. Each AD knows who their seniors are and could apply for extra eligibility if they had games canceled. If they don’t want to come back, they can make that decision later. I think the key is just saying if you’re a senior and had games canceled you get an extra year. All signed LOI’s are still valid so rosters will expand for a year. I asked my sister about this yesterday and she said they could do it in hours, especially now that they all have some extra time on their hands.

Would it be fair if KU could bring back Isaiah Moss and UNC couldn't bring back Christian Keeling simply because of the schedule of the conference tournament?

UNC's season was done and KU's wasn't because of the timing and size of the ACC and Big 12 Tournaments so is it fair to tell Keeling that he can't come back because of of UNC having an unusually bad season? What if UNC had beaten Syracuse on Wednesday? Would you give someone like Keeling a full because of missing out on likely one game?

Another issue with your scenario would be Mitch Lightfoot. How would your plan affect someone in his position? A player who redshirts what would be his senior year due to PT issues. Would he have to redshirt another season? What would happen to player at a smaller school in the same boat, but the players in front of him return to school because of your plan and now that player is still stuck without PT. Does he get to redshirt again and now miss two years of games or is that player stuck behind those other players and have to transfer out if he wants to play?

In a situation like this, it needs to be a blanket rule to me. Either everyone (all classes) are granted an extra year of eligibility or nobody is. I don't believe you can cherry pick who gets that opportunity because of scheduling which is something beyond a player's control.

I think so. UNC’s season was over, so he didn’t get anything taken from him. Just use the principle that if your season was completed, you don’t get an extra year. Give Mitch a 6th year if he wants one. He’s going to get a master’s, so might as well let him finish it on scholarship.

I think that’s the case with a blanket rule anyway. If a freshman redshirted to get more playing time down the road you’ve backed up his clock a year if everyone gets another year. Does he take another redshirt year?

@FarmerJayhawk said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@FarmerJayhawk said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

@FarmerJayhawk said in 2020 Bubble Watch:

I think re: winter sports you could treat them all as possible medical redshirts. If they want to come back, apply for a 5th year if they haven’t completed their season. For example, UNC did finish their year by losing in the ACC Tournament so nobody there should be eligible. Anyone whose season was cut short should he eligible and the programs should honor all signed LOI’s. So for us, Doke and Moss should be eligible to come back and we should also be able to add Bryce, Tyon, Gethro, and Lattrell. I don’t think I’d be in favor of giving all winter sports SA’s a redshirt for this year. The downstream effects for smaller AD’s would really hurt their finances. Just limit to seniors who had their year cut short.

I still wouldn't be in favor of extending this to winter sports athletes unless they were already previously eligible for a medical redshirt. It would be too much of a logistical pain in the butt to go through every roster of every sport to determine who would be eligible for something like that. Then you'd have to find out who would take up that offer and figure out what it would do to roster and scholarship numbers. To me, it's just not worth it because then you'll also get other coaches saying why didn't "Player X" get this opportunity as well?

Winter sports are either finished or more than 75% completed and at that point, it sucks, but move on.

I don’t think it would be that difficult, honestly. There’s not going to be many unknowns. Each AD knows who their seniors are and could apply for extra eligibility if they had games canceled. If they don’t want to come back, they can make that decision later. I think the key is just saying if you’re a senior and had games canceled you get an extra year. All signed LOI’s are still valid so rosters will expand for a year. I asked my sister about this yesterday and she said they could do it in hours, especially now that they all have some extra time on their hands.

Would it be fair if KU could bring back Isaiah Moss and UNC couldn't bring back Christian Keeling simply because of the schedule of the conference tournament?

UNC's season was done and KU's wasn't because of the timing and size of the ACC and Big 12 Tournaments so is it fair to tell Keeling that he can't come back because of of UNC having an unusually bad season? What if UNC had beaten Syracuse on Wednesday? Would you give someone like Keeling a full because of missing out on likely one game?

Another issue with your scenario would be Mitch Lightfoot. How would your plan affect someone in his position? A player who redshirts what would be his senior year due to PT issues. Would he have to redshirt another season? What would happen to player at a smaller school in the same boat, but the players in front of him return to school because of your plan and now that player is still stuck without PT. Does he get to redshirt again and now miss two years of games or is that player stuck behind those other players and have to transfer out if he wants to play?

In a situation like this, it needs to be a blanket rule to me. Either everyone (all classes) are granted an extra year of eligibility or nobody is. I don't believe you can cherry pick who gets that opportunity because of scheduling which is something beyond a player's control.

I think so. UNC’s season was over, so he didn’t get anything taken from him. Just use the principle that if your season was completed, you don’t get an extra year. Give Mitch a 6th year if he wants one. He’s going to get a master’s, so might as well let him finish it on scholarship.

I think that’s the case with a blanket rule anyway. If a freshman redshirted to get more playing time down the road you’ve backed up his clock a year if everyone gets another year. Does he take another redshirt year?

Again, my biggest issue with your plan is that you're determining who gets an extra year based on factors beyond that players control and I don't agree or support that idea. This to me is a situation where it needs to be all or nothing. Either every player gets an extra year or nobody does. If you start cherry picking, now you're stacking a select few teams while hurting the majority of teams out there.

I know this would only apply to a very select few, but what about a team that had already lost it's conference tournament, but was waiting to find out if they were going to be in one of the postseason tournaments? How do you determine those teams when those tournaments never got a chance to announce their fields?

This is why a decision like has to be all or nothing in regards to extending an extra year of eligibility because of the NIT, CBI, and CIT not announcing their fields because most of the teams in those tournaments, CBI and CIT specifically, had already completed their conference tournaments.

Face it, no one would want to win a truncated tourney marred by choosing just a few teams, or a tournament that excluded players because they are moving on with their lives.

For crying out loud, it hurts but we really need to get over it. Much more is at stake in this than the desire to win a trophy.

Well, the football championship has 4 teams. They spread the three games out over three weeks.

For basketball, they could do the same and it would only take three days. Not that hard. And with four #1 seeds playing in the Final Four, it's not that much different from 2008.

I also have wondered if these seniors who are presumably done with school, but have another year of eligibility, could transfer? Will the NCAA put unique restrictions these players or do they make the transfer pool that much bigger this year?

Another thought: these seniors who get another year of eligibility could really pad their stats and create records that are impossible to beat for other athletes. School records, conference records and national records across all of the winter and spring sports...

Extreme case: Imagine Sabrina Ionescu staying another year. She already is at the top.. another year of competition would create records that are impossible to reach.

Lol more fans at the bars in Lawrence trying to console themselves right now than players on the court at any given time.