March Madness 2015 Bracket: Stock Watch for Notable Bubble Teams

Over the course of the next few weeks, no team on the bubble is a lock. 

Bubble life is just that—a slippery, ever-transforming property nearly impossible to find footing on as the whole thing is not only influenced by a team's actions, but overarching outside factors.

Said outside factors include how other teams perform, how conferences stack up compared to one another and simple taste when it comes time to form the bracket.

Look at Stanford and, by association, Texas. The Cardinal upending the Longhorns a few months back supposedly set things in motion for Stanford to make a run, except that marquee win is now hardly a blip on the radar with Texas in free fall.

These things happen, which is why it is important to take a step back and analyze stock at each turn.

Ohio State (20-8)

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For all the good the Ohio State Buckeyes do, they just cannot seem to get over that proverbial hump.

The team plays great defense, touts the fourth-best field goal percentage in the nation and features one of the most entertaining scorers in the land, freshman D'Angelo Russell (18.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists per game).

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Yet the Buckeyes are just 2-4 against the RPI Top 50, per its ESPN RPI profile. Stretch it out and it becomes 6-8 against the RPI Top 100.

A recent two-game skid personifies the Buckeyes to this point. They went to East Lansing, Michigan, and lost by three points to Michigan State, then to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and lost to Michigan by seven.

Even worse, the two wins against the RPI Top 50 are a tad deceptive. A win against Indiana is nice, although it came with Hanner Mosquera-Perea out of the lineup. A shellacking of Maryland looks great, although it came at a time the Terrapins lost three of five in a mini meltdown.

The Buckeyes are far from out of the race. In fact, they're likely to make the tournament on merit alone at this point so long as they finish strong, but the stock continues to trend in the wrong direction. There isn't really anything all that impressive about them this year other than the heroic efforts of a freshman.

Prediction: Ohio State makes the tournament.

St. John's (19-9)

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An agonizing limp to the finish is a thought of the past when it comes to St. John's. 

The team that yielded Mike Krzyzewski's 1,000th career win while losing six of eight is now a winner in five of six, pulling one of the most surprising comebacks stories of the season.

The Red Storm is not out of the woods just yet, though.

In fact, the team just slipped past Xavier by a single point despite being out-rebounded in 47-27 fashion, prompting praise for their clutch performance from one Dick Vitale: 

D'Angelo Harrison was the big hero there, shooting 7-of-14 from the field with three conversions from deep on his way to a game-high 20 points.

He'll need another strong showing if the Red Storm are to move past Georgetown when they next take the court. When it comes to bracket selection, the globe needs to see that a 79-57 blowout at the hands of the Hoyas while Harrison went 0-for-9 from the field with five points is a fluke, not the norm.

Given recent momentum, it is safe to presume St. John's stands tall at home with everything on the line and finishes the season in a strong manner.

Prediction: St. John's makes the tournament.

Pittsburgh (19-10)

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Even on an extremely weak bubble, Pittsburgh is sinking fast.

The Panthers are just 5-8 against the RPI Top 100, a number that could dip if other teams continue to sink. A 2-7 mark against the RPI Top 50 is even more concerning, although that win against five-loss Notre Dame is certainly worth a mention.

To be fair, the Panthers are winners in six of their last eight. The two losses—at the hands of No. 9 Louisville and No. 2 Virginia—are hardly anything to expand on at this point.

A recent home win against Boston College to complete the season sweep has the Panthers in good standing for the moment—not that forward Michael Young and the rest of the team appear to worry too much about the bigger picture.

"We don't look into stuff like who's in and who's out," Young said, per The Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "We want to make it but we've got to win games to make it. We've just got to worry about the next game."

That's the right approach, because a season-ending stretch that reads Wake Forest, Miami (Fla.) and Florida State is not one that will do a whole lot to boost stock—and a loss would prove critical.

The Panthers need to end the season on a perfect note and then help themselves a lot in the ACC tournament. That seems too much to ask at this point for a team a bit lost in the shuffle.

Prediction: Pittsburgh misses the tournament.  

Stats and info are courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.