Bubble Watch: How Does OSU Compare To Other Bubble Teams?

It’s Bubble Watch time! Creighton athletic director Bruce Rasmussen chairs a 10-member selection committee that holds the fate of college basketball in its hands. We’ll find out the 68-team tournament field on Sunday.

Here’s a look at some of those “bubble” teams and their upcoming conference tournament opponents.

For reference, BPI stands for Basketball Power Index (which is a predictor of a team's performance going forward), SOS means Strength of Schedule, SOR means Strength of Record (which is a measure of a team's accomplishment based on how difficult its win-loss record is to achieve) and traditional RPI.

For our purposes, a “Great Win” is against a Top 20 RPI opponent and “Bad Losses” are against teams with RPI 101 and worse.

UCLA (20-11, 11-7 Pac 12) – The Bruins are currently an 11-seed in both ESPN and CBS Sports models. They’ll face the winner of Cal/Stanford on Thursday.

BPI: 53

SOS: 65

SOR: 52

RPI: 39

Great Wins: neutral vs Kentucky; @ Arizona

Bad Losses: @ Oregon State

Providence (19-12, 10-8 Big East) – The Friars are a 10-seed at ESPN and an 11-seed at CBS. They get Creighton on Thursday.

BPI: 73

SOS: 38

SOR: 47

RPI: 42

Great Wins: vs Xavier; vs Villanova

Bad Losses: vs Minnesota; @ Massachusetts; vs DePaul

Butler (19-12, 9-9 Big East) – The Bulldogs are a 9-seed at ESPN and a 10-seed at CBS. They take on Seton Hall on Thursday.

BPI: 24

SOS: 31

SOR: 42

RPI: 45

Great Wins: vs Villanova

Bad Losses: vs Georgetown

Texas (18-13, 8-10 Big 12) – The Horns are projected as an 11-seed in both ESPN and CBS models. They get Iowa State on Wednesday in the Big 12 tournament with Texas Tech waiting for the winner.

BPI: 40

SOS: 2

SOR: 38

RPI: 49

Great Wins: vs TCU

Bad Losses: none

Syracuse (19-12, 8-10 ACC) – The Orange are an 11-seed First Four team at CBS and are listed in the Next Four Out at ESPN. They easily handled Wake Forest in their first round ACC tournament game and will now face North Carolina on Wednesday night.

BPI: 50

SOS: 46

SOR: 56

RPI: 37

Great Wins: vs Clemson

Bad Losses: @ Wake Forest; @ Georgia Tech

USC (21-10, 12-6 Pac 12) – The Trojans are a First Four 11-seed at ESPN and a First Four 12-seed at CBS. They face the winner of Oregon State/Washington on Thursday.

BPI: 49

SOS: 75

SOR: 60

RPI: 35

Great Wins: none

Bad Losses: @ SMU; vs Princeton

Marquette (18-12, 9-9 Big East) – The Golden Eagles are a First Four 12-seed at CBS and among the First Four Out at ESPN. They get DePaul on Wednesday.

BPI: 44

SOS: 10

SOR: 40

RPI: 56

Great Wins: none

Worst Losses: @ DePaul

Louisville (19-12, 9-9 ACC) – The Cardinals are on ESPN’s First Four Out list. They face Florida State on Wednesday.

BPI: 31

SOS: 41

SOR: 46

RPI: 46

Great Wins: none

Bad Losses: none

Utah (19-10, 12-6 Pac 12) – The Utes are on CBS’ First Four Out list. They’ll get the winner of Washington State/Oregon on Thursday.

BPI: 77

SOS: 70

SOR: 64

RPI: 48

Great Wins: none

Bad Losses: neutral vs UNLV

Washington (20-11, 10-8 Pac 12) – The Huskies are on CBS’ First Four Out list and they’ll play Oregon State on Wednesday.

BPI: 113

SOS: 79

SOR: 73

RPI: 58

Great Wins: @ Kansas; vs Arizona

Bad Losses: @ Oregon State

Boise State (23-7, 13-5 Mountain West) – The Broncos are on CBS’ First Four Out list and ESPN’s Next Four Out. They play Thursday against the winner of Utah State/Colorado State.

BPI: 55

SOS: 118

SOR: 53

RPI: 41

Great Wins: none

Bad Losses: @ Utah State

Oklahoma State (18-13, 8-10 Big 12) – The Cowboys are on ESPN’s First Four Out list and they face rival Oklahoma on Wednesday.

BPI: 58

SOS: 12

SOR: 45

RPI: 87

Great Wins: @ Kansas; vs Kansas

Bad Losses: none

Alabama (17-14, 8-10 SEC) – The Crimson Tide are a First Four 11-seed at ESPN. They’ll play Texas A&M on Thursday.

BPI: 54

SOS: 29

SOR: 65

RPI: 57

Great Wins: vs Rhode Island; vs Auburn; vs Tennessee

Bad Losses: @ Vanderbilt; @ Ole Miss; neutral vs Minnesota

Notre Dame (19-13, 8-10 ACC) – The Irish just won against Pitt and will play Wednesday against Virginia Tech. They’re projected among the First Four Out by ESPN.

BPI: 31

SOS: 42

SOR: 59

RPI: 65

Great Wins: neutral vs Wichita State

Bad Losses: vs Ball State; neutral vs Indiana; @ Georgia Tech