Men’s NCAA Tournament Bubble Tracker: SMU, Cincinnati Improve Their Resumes

Selection Sunday is fast approaching, but many men’s college basketball teams across the country still have work to do to hear their names called within this 68-team field. That includes all 12 teams listed in the bubble from FOX Sports’ Michael DeCourcy’s latest NCAA Tournament bracket projection. The fate of these teams is decided by each result. So we help you follow their performances as they try to land one of the coveted final spots in the Big Dance. Here’s a look at how each team performed on the NCAA Tournament bubble and what it means for their hopes: March 10 WCC Tournament: Gonzaga beats Santa Clara, 79-68 Game recap: Mario Saint-Supery scored 21 points, Tyon Grant-Foster had 20 and No. 12 Gonzaga emerged victorious in its final West Coast Conference tournament by beating Santa Clara 79-68 Tuesday night in the championship match. The Bulldogs (30-3) received the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, although the only mystery was which seed they would get. It was their sixth WCC tournament title in seven years and 12th in the last 14 years. Santa Clara (26-8) will wait until Sunday to see if it makes the 68 teams, but the WCC appears to be a three-bid league. Gonzaga, Santa Clara and No. 21 Saint Mary’s were in the top 38 in the NCAA NET rankings before this game and in the top 35 at Kenpom. The Associated Press contributed to this report. What it means: Santa Clara, which entered the WCC tournament in DeCourcy’s “Last Four In,” will have to rely on an at-large bid. But after beating Saint Mary’s on Monday, the Broncos should be safe. ACC Tournament: Virginia Tech falls to Wake Forest, 95-89 in OT Game Recap: Myles Colvin scored 18 points and led seven Wake Forest teammates in double-digit scoring and the Demon Deacons went to overtime to beat Virginia Tech 95-89 Tuesday night in a first-round ACC Tournament contest. The 13th-seeded Demon Deacons will face fifth-seeded Clemson on Wednesday. Virginia Tech entered the tournament as the 12th seed. Sebastian Akins scored 14 points, Tre’Von Spillers and reserve Mekhi Mason 13 each, and Juke Harris and reserves Nate Calmese and Cooper Schwieger all scored 10 each. What it means: Virginia Tech was part of DeCourcy’s “First Four Out,” so this Quad 2 loss to Wake Forest will make it increasingly difficult for the Hokies to make the NCAA Tournament. ACC Tournament: SMU beats Syracuse, 86-69 Game recap: Boopie Miller scored 25 points to lead five starters in double figures, Jaden Toombs and Samet Yigitoglu each had a double-double and No. 11 seed SMU beat 14th-seeded Syracuse 86-69 on Tuesday in the first round of the ACC Tournament. SMU (20-12), which had lost four straight ACC games, advances to face 24th and sixth-seeded Louisville on Wednesday in the second round. Toombs had a double-double in the first half with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Miller added 11 points to help SMU maintain a 39-38 lead at the break. Nate Kingz paced Syracuse with 17 points. The Associated Press contributed to this report. What this result means: SMU was safe from DeCourcy’s bubble, but was an 11th seed, so it was in danger of missing the NCAA tournament. A win against Syracuse in the first round of the ACC Tournament should help the Mustangs, especially since Stanford, another ACC bubble team, lost to Pittsburgh earlier in the day. What’s next: SMU plays sixth-seeded Louisville on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. ET. Big 12 tournament: Cincinnati beats Utah 73-66 Game recap: Jalen Celestine made five 3-pointers and scored 19 points, including two game-clinching free throws with 29 seconds remaining, and ninth-seeded Cincinnati held off No. 16 seed Utah 73-66 on Tuesday to advance to the second round of the Big 12 tournament. Moustapha Thiam added 14 points and 10 rebounds while Baba Miller had 11 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Bearcats (18-14), who also gave their NCAA Tournament hopes a big boost by earning a date with No. 8 seed UCF on Wednesday. The Bearcats have won seven of their last nine games, a streak that began with a 20-point win over the Knights in early February and includes a rare road team win over Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse a few weeks ago. The Associated Press contributed to this report. What this result means: Cincinnati has now won seven of its last nine games to climb back into the NCAA Tournament bubble after starting the season 11-12. The Bearcats, however, are still in the “Next Four Out” of DeCourcy’s latest projection, meaning they’ll need to stack that many wins into the conference tournament to earn an at-large bid. Each of Cincinnati’s games from now on will likely be against Quad 1 opponents above the bubble, so if the Bearcats go on a run, they could punch a ticket to the Big Dance. What’s next: Cincinnati faces eighth-seeded UCF on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET. March 9 WCC Tournament: Santa Clara beats Saint Mary’s 76-71 Game recap: Sash Gavalyugov scored 23 points, including a backbreaking 3-pointer to lead Santa Clara to a 76-71 victory over No. 21 Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference Tournament semifinals Monday night to take a big step toward the Big Dance. The Broncos (26-7) will face No. 12 Gonzaga (29-3) in the championship game Tuesday night. The winner receives the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. While the Bulldogs are safe in the tournament, Santa Clara was considered on the bubble. The Broncos entered this game ranked 42nd in the NCAA NET rankings and 37th in Kenpom. Saint Mary’s (27-5) could take a hit in the tournament seeding, but the Gaels should find themselves in the field of 68. They were No. 20 in the NET and No. 22 in the KenPom. This is the first time since 2021 that the WCC final has not taken place between Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s. The Associated Press contributed to this report. What this result means: The Broncos advanced to the WCC tournament final to face Gonzaga on Wednesday. A win in this game would earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. But Santa Clara should still be safe, as it picked up a neutral-site victory in Quad 1 by beating Saint Mary’s in Tuesday’s semifinals. The Broncos were in DeCoucy’s “Last Four In” on Saturday, and this result could knock them out of the bubble entirely. What’s next: Santa Clara will face Gonzaga in the WCC tournament final on Wednesday.