Handy reminder for those of you with sides trying to avoid total gut-wrenching failure against lowly North Carolina: It’s hard to avoid being put to the full judgement of the national media.
Not only are the top seeds, Kentucky and Kansas, headed in that direction and/or out, but there’s a whole new breed of bubble teams trying to break the glass ceiling.
Just who exactly is out of it? Let’s check the top 25 in action.
Team (Record) AP rank
1. Michigan State (8-0) No 5
2. Purdue (7-1) No 20
3. Cincinnati (7-1) No 5
4. Virginia (6-2) No 11
5. Kansas (6-2) No 10
6. Villanova (7-1) No 6
7. North Carolina (6-2) No 14
8. Cincinnati (7-1) No 10
9. Texas Tech (6-1) No 14
10. Texas (6-2) No 17
11. Virginia Tech (6-2) No 8
12. Texas A&M (6-2) No 17
13. Mississippi State (6-1) No 13
14. Louisville (6-2) No 17
15. Wisconsin (6-2) No 18
16. Indiana (6-2) No 19
17. Alabama (6-2) No 13
18. Mississippi State (6-1) No 14
19. Syracuse (6-2) No 18
20. Northwestern (6-2) No 16
21. Mississippi (5-3) No 17
22. Marquette (6-3) No 20
23. Oklahoma State (6-2) No 21
24. West Virginia (5-3) No 22
25. Florida State (5-3) No 22