With eight days remaining until Selection Sunday, the NCAA tournament bubble is beginning to take shape. Bubble Breakdown is the Dagger's daily look at the results that impact who's in and who's out.
Backs against the wall entering the final week of the regular season, Texas found a way to get the two home wins it needed to preserve hope of a return to the NCAA tournament.
First the Longhorns edged Baylor in overtime earlier this week. Then on Saturday, the Longhorns stifled Kansas State 62-49.
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Neither of those wins are enough to make Texas feel secure entering the Big 12 tournament, but at least the Longhorns are still in contention for a bid. They're 19-12 overall, 8-10 in the most rugged conference in the nation and the No. 7 seed in the Big 12 tournament.
While Texas has no losses against non-NCAA tournament contenders and quality wins against West Virginia, Iowa and Baylor, what's holding the Longhorns back is their pedestrian 3-11 record against the RPI top 50. That's why Texas cannot afford to lose to TCU in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament and really needs a quarterfinal victory against either Oklahoma or Iowa State too.*
That Texas is in this position is hard to believe considering it rose as high as No. 6 in the nation during the non-conference season. Erratic stretches from Jonathan Holmes, Isaiah Taylor and other standouts have hurt the Longhorns, but their talented enough to be dangerous if they can sneak into the NCAA tournament.
BUBBLE TEAMS WHOSE STOCK ROSE SATURDAY
NC State (19-12, 10-8 ACC): It took until the last game of the regular season, but the team that just can't seem to break up with the bubble finally separated itself for good. NC State closed out Syracuse's season by defeating the Orange 71-57, a win that should seal the Wolfpack's spot in the field of 68. No other bubble team can match NC State's quality wins, which include Duke, Louisville, North Carolina and seven other victories against the RPI top 100. A couple of bad losses at Boston College and Wake Forest don't help, but the Wolfpack could drop an opening round game in the ACC tournament and still feel confident they'd hear their name on Selection Sunday.
Temple (22-9, 13-5 AAC): A 46-point second half helped Temple pull away from UConn and stay alive in the hunt for an at-large bid. The problem is that's just Temple's sixth RPI top 100 victory, and four of them are against teams who are going to have to win their conference tournament in order to make the Big Dance. Of course, one of those two other wins is a biggie — a 25-point shellacking of Big 12 champion Kansas. Will that win and a dearth of bad losses get Temple in? Or will the committee see the Kansas result as an outlier on an otherwise pedestrian profile? Tough call. Regardless, Temple needs to make a deep American Athletic Conference tournament run to feel good about its chances.
LSU (22-9, 11-7 SEC): LSU might have made the field without toppling Arkansas in Fayetteville on Saturday. The Tigers left no doubt by pulling off a memorable road win. Keith Hornsby's 3-pointer as time expired spoiled Arkansas' late comeback from a 12-point deficit and gave LSU an 81-78 victory that should help offset the Tigers' litany of bad losses. They've lost to Auburn, Missouri, Mississippi State and Tennessee, but they have 10 RPI top 100 wins including a huge non-league win at West Virginia, Saturday's win at Arkansas and a sweep of NCAA tournament-bound Ole Miss. That's enough to get LSU into the field of 68 and suggests it could be dangerous too.
Purdue (20-11, 12-6 Big Ten): When Purdue lost to North Florida, Gardner-Webb, Kansas State and Vanderbilt in non-conference play, it was clear the Boilermakers would have to do something awfully special in Big Ten play to overcome that. Believe it or not, it looks like they have done enough. Purdue ensured it will finish in a tie for third in the ACC on Saturday with a 63-58 victory over fellow bubble team Illinois. The Boilermakers now own a sweep of rival Indiana and quality wins against Iowa, Ohio State and now Illinois. Though Purdue isn't so secure that it can afford to let up, the Boilermakers may have done enough now to withstand a Big Ten quarterfinal loss against an NCAA tournament-bound foe.
Other bubble winners: Miami (beat Virginia Tech 82-61), Rhode Island (beat St. Joseph's 78-68), Georgia (beat Auburn 64-61)
BUBBLE TEAMS WHOSE STOCK FELL SATURDAY
Illinois (19-12, 9-9 Big Ten): Blowing a double-digit first-half lead at Purdue could be very costly for Illinois. Not only will the Illini now need to do some damage in the Big Ten tournament, they'll have to do it from a less-than-ideal spot in the bracket. By virtue of its loss, Illinois is the No. 8 seed, which means even if it gets by Michigan in the opening round, Wisconsin would await in the quarterfinals. Quality wins against Baylor, Maryland and Michigan State are outstanding, but there's nothing else notable on the resume for the Illini. They only have five top 100 wins and one is against mediocre Michigan.

Texas A&M (20-10, 11-7 SEC): Texas A&M's profile was thin even before it suffered a pair of losses this week against Florida and Alabama. Now it's hard to see the Aggies make the field without a deep SEC tournament run. The only RPI top 75 victories Texas A&M has this season came via a pair of victories over LSU during SEC play. That sweep is more meaningful now that the Tigers are safely in the NCAA tournament, but the best team the Aggies have beaten besides LSU is middling Florida. Though the selection committee will take into account Danuel House's absence against Alabama because of a foot injury, Texas A&M nonetheless is dire shape compared to where it was even a week ago.
Indiana (19-12, 9-9 Big Ten): An Indiana team that cracked the AP Top 25 on Jan. 23 has since lost eight of its last 12 games to tumble all the way to the bubble. The Hoosiers lost at home to Branden Dawson-less Michigan State on Saturday, ratcheting up the pressure on them entering the Big Ten tournament. The argument in favor of the Hoosiers is that few bubble teams have a better collection of quality wins than Maryland, Butler, SMU, Ohio State and Illinois. The argument against the Hoosiers is a pedestrian 19-12 record, a dreadful non-conference strength of schedule and a lack of victories against anyone relevant since January. Indiana's four RPI top 50 wins might be enough to secure a bid no matter how it fares in the Big Ten tournament, but the Hoosiers probably would not be wise to test that theory by losing in the opening round.
Pittsburgh (19-13, 8-10 ACC): They were probably out of contention even before Saturday, but a loss to Florida State sealed the Panthers' fate. Though they have big wins against Notre Dame and North Carolina, they played a tissue-soft non-conference schedule and suffered way too many bad losses in ACC play.
Stanford (18-12, 9-9 Pac-12): Stanford's last chance after a late-season swoon was pulling a stunner in Tucson on Saturday. Needless to say, that didn't happen. A 91-69 Arizona win dumped the Cardinal to the No. 6 seed in the Pac-12 tournament and left them no other path to an NCAA bid but to win it. Considering the way Stanford has finished the season, it would be a surprise if the Cardinal even reach the semis.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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