March Madness 2014: Most Dangerous Bubble Teams Fighting for Tournament Berths

Being on the bubble in early March is a double-edged sword for college basketball teams around the nation. While the opportunity to play your way into the NCAA tournament over the next few weeks remains, the margin for error is extremely thin.

There are some dangerous teams on the bubble too—squads that are good enough to at least make some noise if they do end up reaching the big dance.

However, there isn't room for everyone, which means some teams are going to be left wondering what could have been.

Let's check out three dangerous teams trying to fight their way into the tournament ahead of Selection Sunday. They will all be cheering for top teams from one-bid conferences in order to keep as many at-large openings as possible available.

Arkansas

The Razorbacks are getting hot at the right time. They have won six straight games and eight of their past nine. The streak includes a second overtime win over Kentucky after edging the Wildcats in January and a 110-point outburst against Ole Miss.

In terms of their resume, those Kentucky triumphs will be their calling card. As noted by David Fox of Athlon Sports, they became the first team to beat John Calipari twice in a season since he took over the Wildcats.

Calipari's group only has three other losses in conference play.

Arkansas is reminiscent of the VCU teams that have reached at least the third round in three straight tournaments. They play an uptempo style, can spread the floor offensively with several different scoring options and pressure defensively to force turnovers.

As the Rams have shown, when a team can play that type of basketball effectively in March, it often flusters opponents into a string of mistakes.

Led by the trio of Rashad Madden, Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls, the Razorbacks are built for similar success.

Minnesota

Minnesota is dangerous because it's volatile.

There are nights when it appears the Golden Gophers can beat any opponent in the country, like in their upset win over Wisconsin. Then there have been some total duds.

Those type of unpredictable teams can make a coach crazy, but always make opponents wary because they understand the team can get hot at any time.

"We believe in what we're doing. We've had some games that haven't been great. We've had some games that have been great. Tonight was a great one," coach Richard Pitino told reporters after his team's upset win over Iowa.

All told, the Golden Gophers have three wins over ranked opponents and had close losses to Syracuse, Wisconsin and Michigan State. Furthermore, they should be a battle-tested squad since eight of their past 14 games have been against ranked foes.

Minnesota also has all the key areas covered. Andre Hollins is a go-to scorer in crunch time, Elliott Eliason protects the paint and the roster features plenty of depth.

It needs a strong finish to get in the tournament, but it won't be any easy out if it does earn a berth.

St. John's

St. John's was a long shot to make the tournament after a five-game losing streak to open Big East play. The Red Storm have gone 10-3 since that point, highlighted by a win over Creighton, to get back in the mix.

Head coach Steve Lavin recently spoke with the media about the run:

"

To dig ourselves out of that 0-5 hole [in the Big East] and to be 9-8 going into this Marquette game is something that, in my career, is gonna stand out as really special. And now we'd like to pay it off by making a run and doing something in March.

"

Right now, St. John's is very likely on the outside looking in at the 68-team field. However, with a road trip to Marquette followed by the Big East tournament, there's still enough time for the Red Storm to make a final push.

They have been able to turn things around thanks to strong play on the defensive end. KenPom.com indicates that they rank 15th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency. A major part of that is post defense, with four players averaging at least a block per game, including Chris Obekpa at more than three rejections per contest.

The inside-out tandem of Jakarr Sampson and D'Angelo Harrison is crucial because St. John's doesn't have a ton of scoring depth.

If they can stay hot over the next couple of weeks to go with continued success on defense, the Red Storm are capable of busting some brackets.