With just one day to go before the real bracket reveal on Selection Sunday, I am not posting an update to my bracketology. Instead, I am listing the teams on the Bubble along with some of their accolades. Most of today and tomorrow will be spent doing more in-depth analysis and calculations than a typical day’s bracketology-analysis so the final prediction tomorrow afternoon can be as accurate as possible. In the past nine years, PiRate Ratings’ Bracketology has correctly picked all 68 teams five times, 67 teams three times, and 66 teams one time.
Let’s look at the raw data for each of the Bubble Teams.
| Team | NET | COM | SOS | NSOS | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Away | Today |
| Arizona St. | 66 | 66 | 62 | 123 | 5-6 | 4-5 | 5-0 | 8-1 | 12-7 | |
| Clemson | 57 | 63 | 123 | 312 | 4-4 | 3-2 | 7-2 | 9-2 | 8-9 | |
| Mississippi St. | 49 | 50 | 43 | 204 | 4-8 | 4-3 | 5-1 | 8-0 | 9-8 | |
| Nevada | 37 | 42 | 24 | 70 | 4-5 | 4-3 | 10-2 | 3-0 | 8-9 | |
| North Carolina | 46 | 44 | 12 | 18 | 2-9 | 5-4 | 7-0 | 6-0 | 8-10 | |
| North Texas | 38 | 46 | 83 | 112 | 1-3 | 3-2 | 11-1 | 9-1 | 14-5 | |
| Oklahoma St. | 43 | 38 | 11 | 158 | 6-12 | 4-2 | 3-1 | 5-0 | 7-10 | |
| Oregon | 47 | 40 | 28 | 7 | 2-9 | 7-4 | 5-1 | 5-0 | 6-9 | |
| Pittsburgh | 67 | 77 | 86 | 122 | 4-4 | 3-5 | 5-1 | 10-1 | 8-8 | |
| Rutgers | 40 | 35 | 48 | 219 | 5-7 | 5-3 | 2-4 | 7-0 | 5-9 | |
| UAB | 52 | 54 | 119 | 293 | 2-3 | 1-3 | 9-1 | 12-1 | 10-6 | FAU |
| Utah St. | 18 | 18 | 20 | 29 | 2-4 | 9-1 | 13-0 | 1-2 | 12-5 | SDSU |
| Vanderbilt | 79 | 79 | 6 | 12 | 5-9 | 5-1 | 5-2 | 5-1 | 8-8 | TXAM |
| Wisconsin | 82 | 75 | 36 | 118 | 6-8 | 5-5 | 1-1 | 5-0 | 8-8 |
These are not all the factors, but they are a lot of the factors that will lead to the final selections by the NCAA Selection Committee, and me. There is a wildcard factor called “The Eye Test,” which is the Committee’s one non-mathematical part of the puzzle. Nobody will ever admit this, but this is their “good ole boy” method of selecting the big name program over the “little guy” when the data is close enough to justify their selection. Every year, CBS announcers will question the head of the Committee about why a big team got the final bid when a 30-4 Mid-major team was left out. One year, the excuse will be that Goliath had a better Net Rating than Mouse Tech. The next year, when Mouse Tech has the better Net, the excuse will be that Goliath had a better non-conference strength of schedule. The next year, when Mouse Tech has a better Net and Strength of Schedule, the excuse will be that Goliath had a 5-9 record against Q1 opponents, while Mouse Tech was 3-2. You get the picture. There is but one real reason why, if it is close enough, Goliath always gets the nod over Mouse Tech. The reasons can come after the fact.
Our final bracket reveal will publish here on Selection Sunday, as soon as the last game that can affect the bracket goes final. There are some potential bid-stealers still playing.
In the American Athletic Conference, Houston and Memphis are locks. So, if Cincinnati or Tulane wins the automatic bid, one Bubble will burst.
Red hot Ohio State has advanced to the Big Ten semifinals. If the Buckeyes beat Purdue today and then either Indiana or Penn State tomorrow, they are in with the automatic bid.
If UAB beats Florida Atlantic today in the CUSA Championship Game, FAU is close to a sure thing to receive an at-large bid.
The Pi-Rate Ratings 