{"id":7418,"date":"2026-01-24T21:21:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T16:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/five-college-basketball-bubble-teams-ready-to-make-a-march-madness-push\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T21:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T16:21:17","slug":"five-college-basketball-bubble-teams-ready-to-make-a-march-madness-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/five-college-basketball-bubble-teams-ready-to-make-a-march-madness-push\/","title":{"rendered":"Five College Basketball Bubble Teams Ready to Make a March Madness Push"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"JanJan 20, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Eric Dailey Jr. (3) and and guard Donovan Dent (2) celebrate after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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It doesn\u2019t take much foresight to point at a school ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 today \u2014 seven weeks from Selection Sunday \u2014 and declare they\u2019re pretty good and deserve a spot in the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n

It takes a little more skill to survey the bubble\u2019s neighborhood and project which schools are prepared to make a nice leap<\/a> and merit some March Madness.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re going to do here: pick one school from each of the five power conferences and tell you why they\u2019re going to make a move.<\/p>\n

BIG TEN: UCLA (13-6)<\/h3>\n

If you haven\u2019t noticed, Bruins boss Mick Cronin isn\u2019t happy unless he\u2019s unhappy. And, to be fair, he had a point when he complained<\/a> about his squad having to play five of its first seven Big Ten games on the road.<\/p>\n

But you know what happens when you play a bunch on the road? You eventually get a bunch at home.<\/p>\n

The Bruins started a run of five home tilts in a six-game stretch with Tuesday\u2019s 69-67 home upset of No. 4 Purdue. They\u2019re favored to win all those home games, which should help them make their current 40 NET ranking more comfortable.<\/p>\n

Something else that will help? Skyy Clark hasn\u2019t played since Jan. 3, when he injured his hamstring in a loss at Iowa. Considering the senior guard ranks as UCLA\u2019s No. 2 scorer (13.5 PPG) and among the nation\u2019s top 20 3-point shooters (48.6%), his return could boost the Bruins\u2019 offensive efficiency from competent to excellent. He\u2019s also an above-average defender.<\/p>\n

SEC: Auburn (12-7)<\/h3>\n<\/section>\n
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\"AuburnAuburn Tigers head coach Steven Pearl coaches against the South Carolina Gamecocks during their Southeastern Conference game at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday January 17, 2026. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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After the SEC dominated college basketball last year, it\u2019s weird to see only five teams in the AP\u2019s Top 25 and the NET\u2019s top 25 \u2014 with No. 15 Vanderbilt the best team per AP and No. 14 Florida the leader per the NET.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s tempting to pick Auburn as the SEC school ready to make a run, especially considering Steven Pearl\u2019s group has won three of its last four \u2014 capped by their first road win of the year Tuesday at Ole Miss.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the catch: the Tigers have a ton of tough road games remaining. The ruggedness starts Saturday at Florida, which has won five in a row, and continues with Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama, among others.<\/p>\n

UNLV\/George Mason\/UCF transfer Keyshawn Hall has been everything Auburn hoped, as he averages 20.1 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting .476\/.400\/.866.<\/p>\n

The trick for the Tigers is getting more efficiency out of point guard Tahaad Pettiford. Considered an All-American candidate in the preseason, he has managed just 61 assists versus 43 turnovers and shoots 27.0% from 3-point range. That limits a team\u2019s upside.<\/p>\n

ACC: SMU (14-5)<\/h3>\n<\/section>\n
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\"JanJan 17, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; SMU Mustangs center Jaden Toombs (10) and Virginia Cavaliers forward Thijs de Ridder (28) battle for the rebound during the first half at Moody Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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SMU hasn\u2019t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2017 and hasn\u2019t won a Tournament game since 1988, but this is the year both futility streaks end.<\/p>\n

After starting ACC play on Jan. 3 with a 14-point home win over North Carolina that opened some eyes, SMU has dropped three of its five games to fall to 14-5 overall and 3-3 in the ACC heading into Saturday\u2019s home game with Florida State.<\/p>\n

Why does that sentence suggest the Mustangs are on the upswing? Because they\u2019ve had the toughest ACC schedule to date. They\u2019ve been to Duke and Clemson and hosted Virginia (and lost all three).<\/p>\n

While an intriguing trip to Louisville awaits on Jan. 31, the Mustangs, who sit No. 30 in the NET, have a great chance to finish strong as they\u2019re finished with the Tar Heels, Blue Devils, Tigers, Cavaliers and Virginia Tech.<\/p>\n

P.S.<\/strong> Fifth-year point guard Kevin \u201cBoopie\u201d Miller, who grew up in Chicago being overshadowed by well-traveled Top 50 recruit Adam Miller (Illinois\/LSU\/Arizona State\/Gonzaga), is the real deal. Boopie, who began his career at Central Michigan, averages 19.8 points and 6.8 assists per game while shooting .471\/.388\/.892.<\/p>\n

BIG EAST: ST. JOHN\u2019S (14-5)<\/h3>\n<\/section>\n
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\"JanJan 13, 2026; New York, New York, USA; St. John’s Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino greets forward Zuby Ejiofor (24) after substituting him out of the game in the second half against the Marquette Golden Eagles at Madison Square Garden Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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St. John\u2019s entered this season with huge expectations. Rick Pitino\u2019s Red Storm were ranked No. 5 in the AP poll and No. 6 by the coaches, but they suffered nonconference losses to Alabama, Iowa State, Auburn and Kentucky. Then they committed the sin of losing to Providence on Jan. 3 at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

Even Pitino complained during the first half of the season about his team\u2019s lack of a point guard. Since those complaints, though, the Red Storm (14-5, 7-1) have been red-hot.<\/p>\n

They carry a five-game winning streak into Saturday\u2019s Big East game at Xavier and have moved to No. 23 in the NET.<\/p>\n

St. John\u2019s surge has coincided with Texas transfer Dillon Mitchell\u2019s return to the starting lineup. Over these five games, Mitchell has averaged 9.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 54.3% from the field.<\/p>\n

BIG 12: WEST VIRGINIA (13-6)<\/h3>\n<\/section>\n
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\"JanJan 21, 2026; Tempe, Arizona, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers forward Treysen Eaglestaff (52) dunks the ball against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the first half at Desert Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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West Virginia is a deep-cut pick that easily could go bust.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the scoop: the Mountaineers sit at No. 59 in the NET, so they need to make a big move to get into legitimate range of the NCAA at-large berth that eluded them last year when they were No. 51 on Selection Sunday.<\/p>\n

The good news? First-year boss Ross Hodge\u2019s crew has gone 12-0 at home.<\/p>\n

The bad news? Prior to earning a 12-point win Wednesday at Arizona State, the Mountaineers hadn\u2019t won anywhere but home. They went winless on neutral courts (Clemson, Xavier, Wake Forest, Ohio State) and got obliterated by 21 at Iowa State and 29 at Houston.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no shame in losing to the Cyclones and Cougars, but they need to show more progress outside of Morgantown. Saturday\u2019s game at top-ranked Arizona would be a great time to prove something and set the stage for the home stretch.<\/p>\n

With nice depth and three fine shooters in Honor Huff (16.6 PPG, 38.9% on 3-point attempts), Brenen Lorient (10.6 PPG, 38.9%) and Treysen Eaglestaff (10.6 PPG, 36.4%), anything can happen.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n


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Jan 20, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Eric Dailey Jr. (3) and and guard Donovan Dent (2) celebrate after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images It doesn\u2019t take much foresight to point at a school ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}