Marquette a lock in latest ESPN Bubble Watch

[Aughnanure]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bubblewatch

Big East Conference
Locks:
Syracuse Orange
West Virginia Mountaineers
Villanova Wildcats
Pittsburgh Panthers
Georgetown Hoyas
Louisville Cardinals
Marquette Golden Eagles

Teams that should be in: Notre Dame
Work left to do: Seton Hall, South Florida


Louisville became the seventh Big East team to earn "lock" status by upsetting Syracuse for the second time this season, winning 78-68 in the final game at Freedom Hall on Saturday. Notre Dame also moved closer to locking up an NCAA at-large bid by beating Marquette 63-60 in overtime on the road on Saturday. Cincinnati and Connecticut fell off the board after losing Saturday to finish 7-11 in Big East play. Both teams could potentially work their way back on to the board by reaching the championship game of the Big East tournament in New York. South Florida is back on the board after knocking off the Huskies at home to finish 9-9 against Big East foes.

Notre Dame [21-10 (10-8), RPI: 57, SOS: 58] The Fighting Irish closed the regular season with a four-game winning streak, beating Pittsburgh (home), Georgetown (road), Connecticut (home) and Marquette (road) to finish 10-8 in Big East play. With star forward Luke Harangody returning from a bruised knee, the Irish head into the Big East tournament probably sitting on the right side of the NCAA bubble. The Irish have three victories over RPI top-50 foes and are 10-7 against RPI top-100 opponents. Notre Dame is 3-6 in true road games and will have to overcome a woefully soft nonconference schedule (No. 218 nationally). The Irish also suffered three unsightly losses, falling to RPI No. 115 Northwestern (neutral court), No. 149 Rutgers (road) and No. 176 Loyola Marymount (home). The Irish are the No. 7 seed in the Big East tournament and play the Seton Hall-Providence winner on Wednesday night.

Seton Hall [18-11 (9-9), RPI: 53, SOS: 28] The Pirates took care of business during the last week of the regular season, winning road games at Rutgers and Providence. Seton Hall finished 9-9 in Big East play, and if it can win a couple of games in the Big East tournament, it might have a legitimate chance at an NCAA at-large bid. The Pirates have three wins over RPI top-50 opponents, beating Pittsburgh and Louisville at home and Cornell on the road. It also defeated fellow Big East bubble team Notre Dame 90-87 at home on Feb. 11, and lost at South Florida 76-74 in overtime on Jan. 28. The Pirates are 3-8 against RPI top-50 foes and 6-11 against the top 100. Seven of their 11 losses came against teams which are ranked in the top 15 of the RPI ratings and only two of them were decided by more than 10 points. In fact, Seton Hall didn't lose to an opponent ranked worse than No. 64 in the RPI. The Pirates are the No. 10 seed in the Big East tournament and play No. 15 seed Providence on Tuesday night and potentially Notre Dame if they win.

South Florida [19-11 (9-9), RPI: 65, SOS: 77] The Bulls make a late return to the bubble discussion after beating Connecticut 75-68 at home on Saturday. South Florida will probably have to win at least two games in the Big East tournament to have a chance on Selection Sunday, but its at-large chances still have a faint pulse. South Florida has three wins over RPI top-50 opponents, having defeated Pittsburgh (home), Georgetown (road) and Kent State (home). The Bulls are 3-4 against RPI top-50 opponents and 6-10 against the top 100. They weren't very competitive against many of the Big East's best teams, losing at Syracuse by 17 points, to West Virginia at home by 19, at Villanova by 25 and at Louisville by 21. The Bulls defeated fellow Big East bubble team Seton Hall by two points in overtime, but lost two games against Notre Dame. The Bulls are the No. 9 seed in the Big East tournament and open play against No. 16 seed DePaul on Tuesday. If they advance, they'll play No. 8 seed Georgetown on Wednesday.

[jesmu84]

Louisville became the seventh Big East team to earn "lock" status by upsetting Syracuse for the second time this season,

does that mean we were the sixth "lock" BE team? if so, when did ESPN/Lunardi ever have us a a lock before this release? i'm confused...

[TallTitan34]

This isn't written by Lunardi.

[flash]

good to hear, we should be a lock, in a conference expected to get 7 to 8 bids, the fifth place team should be a lock.