While the NCAA Tournament has many fascinating aspects, perhaps bubble teams fighting for a chance to make said tournament is the most intriguing.
Ahead of the majority of conference tournaments kicking off, there are plenty of intriguing matchups that involve key bubble teams.
High-Stakes Matchups Tonight
There are plenty of significant matchups involving ranked and unranked teams coming up that could throw the entire NCAA Tournament field for a loop.
Here are some of the key games that are taking place tonight that involve teams on the bubble:
Kansas State at Cincinnati, 7:00 p.m. ET
The Bearcats are on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA Tournament picture at 17-12, and to make matters worse, they are just 7-11 in Big 12 play.
This team needs to continue to stack wins, and it has a great opportunity to do so against an underperforming Kansas State team (14-15 overall).
After this matchup, Cincinnati will then face the 14-15 Oklahoma State Cowboys to end the regular season, which could be another opportunity to stack another easy win.
Xavier at Butler, 7:00 p.m. ET
With Xavier sitting at 19-10 overall and 11-7 in Big East play, a loss to a bad Butler team could greatly hurt their stock ahead of the Big East Tournament.
The Musketeers have won five games in a row and cannot afford to have their streak snapped by the 13-16 Bulldogs.
15 Missouri at Oklahoma, 8:00 p.m. ET
While Missouri is comfortably in the NCAA Tournament field regardless of what they do in the SEC Tournament, Oklahoma has a great opportunity to get a top-15 win.
While the Sooners are 17-12 overall, they are just 4-12 in conference play.
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Not only does Porter Moser’s team need to improve its conference record, but it could really use a big win at home over a good team to boost its tournament stock.
Stanford at Notre Dame, 9:00 p.m. ET
While the Fighting Irish likely aren’t going to the NCAA Tournament unless they win the ACC Tournament, the Cardinal are sitting in a good spot at 19-10 overall.
Much like Xavier on this list, Stanford simply cannot afford to slip up against a struggling conference opponent with the ACC Tournament looming.
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