With the conference tournaments and Selection Sunday fast approaching, Cincinnati, Xavier and Dayton are still squarely on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament, while Ohio State remains a two-seed in Chris Dobertean's latest projection.
In Joe Lunardi's latest edition of the Bubble Watch, all three schools are in the 'Work Left To Do' category. Of the three teams, Cincinnati seems to have the best profile (20-9, 10-6) with wins over Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame and UConn. Here's what Lunardi wrote about the Bearcats:
Cincinnati's win over Louisville on Thursday was huge for this team's profile; it gave the Bearcats their fifth win against the RPI top 50, and there are plenty of bubble teams that would love to own wins over Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame and even UConn. But the Bearcats' nonconference performance could come back to haunt them. The RPI is still hovering in prohibitive territory. No team in the last 15 years has received an at-large bid with an RPI outside the top 75.
Xavier (18-10, 9-5) improved its profile with a win over Richmond, but still needs to grab a few more wins to feel safe. Dayton (18-10, 8-6) helped its cause winning four out of its last five games.
Akron, meanwhile, is slated as a 14-seed as its conference's automatic bid representative.
For more on the Ohio State Buckeyes, head to Along The Olentangy. You can also get more NCAA coverage at the SB Nation NCAA hub at sbnation.com/NCAA_Basketball.