March Madness 2015 Bracket: Predicting Fate of Notable Bubble Teams

Life on the bubble is never as simple as it sounds. 

It's not as easy as providing a singular answer such as "team X must win X games to make the bracket." In reality, the aptly named "team X" might just win all of those games, but a number of others (call them X, Y, Z and beyond) might get just as hot and finish with a more impressive resume at the end of the day.

The defining trait of the period is madness for a reason, folks.

Ahead of conference tournaments, several notable bubble teams are flanked by loads of other potential contenders.

For the notables, the next few weeks must encompass taking care of their own business and hoping others take a few missteps along the path.

North Carolina State (17-11)

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An ugly, ugly late January that bled into early February has the North Carolina State Wolfpack smack dab on the bubble, although things are on the upswing now that the team has pulled together three straight wins. 

Two of those came against Top 15 opposition, too.

A 58-46 triumph on the road against North Carolina that puts things into a historical light is perhaps a sign of NC State truly hitting its stride, as ESPN Stats & Info points out:

There, a barrage of conversions from deep, a triumph on the glass and three starters in double digits led to the upset.

Still, NC State remains one of the more confusing teams. After an upset of then-No. 2 Duke, the Wolfpack lost six of eight before this recent tear. As easy as it is to say they are in great form to make a push for the tournament, it seems things could just as easily trend in the other direction.

The saving grace is the remaining schedule. So long as the Wolfpack can take down mediocre Boston College and Clemson teams before a tango with a tough Syracuse squad, they'll be back in the tournament with notable momentum.

Prediction: NC State makes the tournament.

Temple (19-9)

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Back to the bubble the Temple Owls go. 

Folks are quick to point out a 77-52 upset triumph over then-No. 10 Kansas, but how much longer can we truly dwell on an upset from December in which the Owls miraculously shot better than 58 percent from the field?

Look at recent affairs for some perspective.

The Owls are now losers of two straight, those losses coming at the hands of SMU and Tulsa. In other words, they have now been swept on the season by SMU and Tulsa and only split the season series with Cincinnati, making them a whopping 1-5 against the top teams in the American Athletic Conference.

Many believe Temple can beat plenty of tournament teams. Perhaps, but there's a big difference between being able to and actually doing so—the team is 1-6 against the RPI Top 50, per its ESPN RPI profile.

The Owls don't figure to have a chance to prove they can hang with the tournament teams, not at this pace and track record from a conference that only figures to send two teams dancing.

Prediction: Temple misses the tournament.

Stanford (17-9)

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If Stanford is going to pull off something akin to a miracle, it needs to happen now. 

The Pac-12 is not exactly ripe with big-win opportunities, something the Cardinal managed to mess up rather easily with losses against Utah, Arizona and two against UCLA.

Feel free to add in the fact the team has lost four of its last six. More importantly, though, is that the team's biggest win was a December triumph over then-No. 9 Texas.

One problem—the Longhorns are now on the bubble with a 17-11 record and a 1-10 record against the RPI Top 50.

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Speaking of RPI, Stanford is 1-5 in that same department. After a recent triumph against California, senior Chasson Randle (19.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists per game) made it quite clear that the remaining four-game stretch is about pride.

"It was more so just about our standards and what we want to do for the rest of the year, NCAAs or not," Randle said, per The Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "We just wanted to go out the right way. We wanted to come out as aggressive as possible."

Said four-game stretch starts simple enough with contests against Oregon State, Oregon and Arizona State before things get tricky with a road contest against No. 7 Arizona.

So long as Stanford can take care of its winnable games, the Cardinal will go dancing. But they are sure making a dramatic show of it and allowing others to hang onto bubble hopes.

Prediction: Stanford makes the tournament.

Stats and info courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.