With bubble teams falling into the abyss of NIT consideration throughout Championship Week, Penn State's loss to Purdue in Indianapolis was accompanied by the end of their good fortune elsewhere.
The condition of the patient: critical. Penn State suffered a demoralizing defeat that at least won't look as bad as it really was when committee members glance at it. But the code blue really took hold when four scores came clicking across during the night: Bubble-sitting Maryland upset Wake Forest by 11 in the ACC quarterfinals. The Terrapins now likely have enough juice to steal a bid. Then came two semi-stunners in the Atlantic 10 semis that positively plucked a bid from the at-large pool - Temple over Xavier and Duquesne over Dayton. Someone is certain now to win the A-10 who very likely would not have received a bid otherwise. (The Owls had a good RPI but not much of a resume.) Finally, bubble-sitting San Diego State beat nationally ranked Brigham Young in the Mountain West semis.
Those A-10 results are killers. As Jones notes, we're not likely to see a Duquesne auto-bid / Temple at-large combination, but we'd still like Temple to win to be sure. In most bracket predictions, San DIego State seemed to be even with Penn State heading into last night. They're likely a half-notch above us now.
The fine folks at Bracketology 101 essentially have Penn State as their second-to-last team in, with only St. Mary's in a more precarious spot. B101 gives us this handy weekend wishing guide:
Here's what the bubble team fans needs to hope for in Saturday's action: Memphis over Tulsa, LSU over Mississippi State, Tennessee over Auburn, Duke over Maryland in a blowout, ASU over USC, Temple over Duquense, Utah over SDSU, Utah State over Nevada, and most importantly - Missouri over Baylor. The potential of 4-5 more bid stealers still exists, so nobody on the last 4 in line is safe.
Obviously, it's a minefield. Your complete viewing guide for the afternoon and evening, with pointspreads.
11:35 a.m. Memphis (-14.5) vs. Tulsa (CBS)
1:00 p.m. Mississippi State vs. LSU (ESPN2)
3:15 p.m. Tennessee (-4.5) vs. Auburn (ESPN2)
4:00 p.m. Duke (-9) vs. Maryland (ESPN)
6:00 p.m. Baylor (+5) vs. Missouri (ESPN)
6:00 p.m. Arizona State (-1.5) vs. USC (CBS)
6:00 p.m. Duquesne (+4.5) vs. Temple (ESPN2)
7:00 p.m. San Diego State (pk) vs. Utah
10:00 p.m. Utah State (+1) vs. Nevada (ESPN2)