The Bubble: Teams on the move early in the season

Early season success or struggle usually doesn’t mean a lot come selection Sunday. However, a few good wins or a couple of tough losses may change the perspective of certain teams. Pre-season predictions often start to change early in the season. We share three teams on the rise and three teams off to tough starts to the season.

Bubble: On the watch list from off the radar teams.

The DePaul Blue Demons are currently 5-0 and won a big game over Iowa at Iowa. They have a lot more work to do to be tourney worthy, but they are now on the list of teams to watch. The Blue Demons are currently 65th in KenPom rankings.

Oregon St is off to a 3-1 start with a nice win over Iowa St and a close loss to Oklahoma. The Beavers are 64th in KenPom and worth watching as the season progress. Still on the outskirts of tournament discussion but have moved into contention

Virginia Tech was predicted to finish in the bottom 3-4 of the ACC conference. They are currently 4-0 with a road win at Clemson. The Hokies under new coach Mike Young are 44th in KenPom which puts them in serious bubble consideration range.

Some teams were predicted to be very successful this year and maybe even somewhat of locks to make the tournament. These next three teams have had difficult starts and find themselves in early Bubble conversation. They still have solid chances to get in but missed out on a few early season opportunities.

Bubble in: teams that have fallen onto the bubble early.

The Florida Gators were predicted to be a possible top four seed at the beginning of the year. They have suffered two tough losses to Florida St and UConn. The Gators are 32nd in KenPom and have some work to do to stay in the tourney field.

The Purdue Boilermakers are 2-2 on the season. They have lost at home to Texas and on the road to Marquette. Purdue is still a solid team but will need to win some good non-conference games on their schedule to move up the seed line. They are currently 10th in KenPom which bodes well for them.

Davidson was an early season darling from the Atlantic 10 conference. Coach Bob McKillop does some great things with this program. However, they lost their first two games of the year to drop onto the bubble. Their remaining non-conference schedule does provide ample opportunity to get some wins to remain on the good side of the bubble.

We always wish your favorite team is on the good side of the bubble. Come back all season for more bubble talk.