NCAA Tournament 2012: Bubble Teams That Deserve a Bid

It’s March and that means the word “bubble” is being uttered at a fast and furious rate.

Selection Sunday is only 10 days away and for most teams only one game remains before conference tournaments begin.

Here are four teams that aren’t a lock, but have the resume worthy of making the field of 68 in a year where the bubble is incredibly weak.

West Virginia (18-12, 8-9 Big East) RPI: 55

The Mountaineers 12 losses are not exactly ideal, but they sport the 12th hardest SOS in the nation to make it look just a bit better. They have four top 50 wins and have registered victories over other bubble teams like Cincinnati, Kansas State and Miami.

West Virginia closes out the regular season with South Florida at home, another bubble team fighting for their lives. As long as they beat the Bulls they should be safe.

Sure they are 3-7 in their last 10, but that’s life in the Big East.

Colorado State (18-10, 7-6 MWC) RPI: 27

Erasing a 16-point deficit to beat No. 17 UNLV on Wednesday night should deal the deal for CSU.

The Rams have the No. 4 SOS in the entire country with wins over San Diego State, UNLV and New Mexico.

The problem is, they only own two road wins and both have RPI’s below 100.

One factor the committee must take into consideration is the concussion injury that kept Pierce Hornung out for six games. The team went 3-3 in his absence as they missed his versatility and leadership. Back at full strength, this team is trending upwards.

Besides, how could the committee even think about leaving out a team in the top 30 in RPI?

Cincinnati (21-9, 11-6 Big East) RPI: 69

The Bearcats destroyed No. 8 Marquette on Wednesday and their resume is now tournament worthy. They are 2-2 against the RPI top 25 and 4-1 against teams in the 26-to-50 range.

The big elephant in the room is their out of conference schedule. It’s one of the 20 worst in the country, and they only went 10-3 against it.

But it seems as if the Crosstown Shootout brawl really sparked this team and their 11-6 conference record in a league that may get 10 bids is all the proof you need.

This is a great example of a team that has matured throughout the season and is playing some of its best basketball at the perfect time.

Miami (17-11, 8-7 ACC) RPI: 50

The Hurricanes certainly don’t have the prettiest resume…except for that win over Duke. Not only did they beat the potential No. 1 seed, they did it at Cameron Indoor.

This team can win in hostile environments and has held their own in a deep ACC conference. They also sport a win over Florida State, who is a lock and hold zero bad losses.

The big problem is the out of conference losses to fellow bubbles West Virginia and Memphis and this week’s lost to NC State. They’ll certainly be sweating next Sunday, but I think they sneak in with a win on Saturday against Boston College.