March Madness 2020: Highlighting Tournament's Most Dangerous Bubble Teams

The nation's top-ranked college basketball teams deserve much of the praise they'll receive in March Madness, but the beginning of the month puts the spotlight on bubble teams.

As the 2019-20 regular season nears its end, these programs are scrapping to bolster a flimsy resume. In most cases, the bubble-dwelling teams are trying to steal a marquee late-season win in hopes of overshadowing a few bad losses.

But when a bubble team starts picking up several excellent victories, they start demanding a little extra attention. Suddenly, they're not merely a potential at-large team squeaking into the tournament; they're also looking dangerous.

There's no better time for that positive change in perception than as the calendar flips to March. Three schools are riding a hot streak at the perfect time.

While it may seem strange for the reigning national champions to fit this category, Virginia has endured an odd season.

Andrew Shurtleff/Associated Press

Tony Bennett's squad opened the campaign 7-0 but dropped six of the next 11 games. Although the Cavaliers began to stabilize, they'd mostly been toppling the ACC's middle- and lower-tier programs. Virginia entered the weekend considered a likely at-large team, yet a bid wasn't a certainty.

However, UVA is now almost off the bubble—in a good way.

The Hoos knocked off Duke 52-50 on Saturday, providing a second marquee win for their tournament resume. Virginia is once again an elite defensive team, allowing a nation-low 52.6 points per game with KenPom's second-best unit. Opponents are shooting a miserable 29.2 percent on three-pointers.

This relentless defense will be an awfully unfriendly sight for a high seed in the second round of March Madness.

Virginia's recent surge isn't quite as dramatic as that of Providence, which has soared from a complete non-factor to a respected at-large candidate in a matter of a month.

After a loss to Villanova on Jan. 25, the Friars held an 11-9 record with abysmal letdowns to Northwestern, Penn, Long Beach State and Charleston. In February alone, they celebrated five Top 25 victories (at Butler, Creighton, Seton Hall, Marquette and at Villanova) and added a quality one at Georgetown.

Luwane Pipkins averaged 8.8 points in the first 25 games of the season but has poured in 80 points over the last four outings. If he comes anywhere close to sustaining this offensive surge, Providence will be tough to beat in March.

Given what the Friars accomplished in February, though, nobody will be overlooking them now.

Meanwhile, UCLA has recovered from an 8-9 start and is suddenly on the bubble. Not only have the Bruins salvaged the season, they're currently atop the Pac-12 standings.

Mick Cronin's club just finished off regular-season sweeps of Arizona and Colorado, also defeating Arizona State during this seven-game winning streak. The Bruins are guaranteed a top-two seed in the Pac-12 tournament, pending Oregon's final results.

Because of the abysmal two-month stretch, UCLA is only now starting to join the right side of the bubble. The Bruins have a razor-thin margin for error against USC and in the Pac-12 tourney; every victory will be immensely valuable for their resume.

But if UCLA can navigate the next couple of weeks, it will demand the respect of teams in March Madness—something that would've seemed totally unreasonable two months ago.

Follow Bleacher Report writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.