March Madness 2024: Tournament Schedule, Bracket Predictions for Men's Bubble Teams

The 2024 NCAA men's basketball tournament is so close you can hear balls bouncing, shoes squeaking and brackets being crumbled and tossed into the recycling bin.

March is here, and so is the madness that sends teams and their fanbases into blissful celebrations and crushing defeats.

With conference tournaments already underway, Big Dance tickets will start being officially secured soon. That could create some uneasiness among those clubs on the bubble.

Let's take a closer look at two teams who find themselves right near the cut line and predict which one gets in and which one doesn't.

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Tournament Schedule

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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MARCH 26: The Elite 8 Sweet 16 logo on the floor during the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament between the Miami (Fl) Hurricanes and the Texas Longhorns at T-Mobile Center on March 26, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Selection Sunday: March 17

First Four: March 19-20

First round: March 21-22

Second round: March 23-24

Sweet 16: March 28-29

Elite Eight: March 30-31

Final Four: April 6

NCAA championship: April 8

St. John's Gets In

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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 28: Daniss Jenkins #5 and Glenn Taylor Jr. #35 of the St. John's Red Storm are seen during the game against the Butler Bulldogs at Hinkle Fieldhouse on February 28, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

During Rick Pitino's first season at the helm, the Red Storm (18-12) have already matched their highest victory count of the last five years.

The Johnnies don't quite have a standout skill, but they are among the best balanced teams on the bubble. Both their offense (29th) and their defense (37th) hold top 40 efficiency rankings on KenPom.

Their ticket isn't quite in hand yet, but they control their own destiny. Tuesday's 27-point thrashing of DePaul stretched this squad's winning streak to four games and Saturday's home tilt with Georgetown offers a great opportunity for a season-high fifth consecutive victory.

Throw in the chance to get at least a game at next week's Big East tournament, and St. John's should have all of the opportunities it needs to go dancing for the first time since 2019.

Virginia Gets Left Out

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - FEBRUARY 24: Virginia Cavaliers guard Reece Beekman (2) dribbles the ball up the court during a men's college basketball game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Virginia Cavaliers on February 24, 2024, at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA. (Photo by Lee Coleman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

While a win on Saturday over a very beatable Georgia Tech team would give Virginia 22 wins and the No. 3 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament, the Cavaliers' resume is less impressive than all of that sounds.

Virginia has played eight Quad 1 games this season and dropped six of them. Following last Saturday's 25-point loss at Duke, this team has suffered seven defeats by at least 15 points and five by 20-plus points. The Cavaliers, who have dropped four of their last six outings, are losing the support of metrics with these lopsided losses and have slipped all the way to No. 68 on KenPom.

In other words, Tony Bennett's team probably needs more than a Quad 3 victory over Georgia Tech to secure its spot. (If the Cavaliers lose that game, that could be the proverbial nail in their coffin.) This club probably still needs a quality victory or two at the conference tournament to not have to sweat out Selection Sunday.

Our crystal ball doesn't see that happening. For as dominant as this defense is, it's impossible to trust that this offense will deliver.