Bubble Teams Decide to Play Their Way Out

It must be the hot new thing. I swear this year more then any other year that I can remember bubble teams are trying to play their way out of the tournament as opposed to in. I know this year's bubble is probably bigger then any other year so maybe it's just more obvious when these teams play poorly but really this year has been out of control.

Four teams that come to mind right away are Maryland, Penn State, Florida and Arizona. A couple of weeks ago I had all four of these teams in and pretty comfortably too. Now, who knows, all four might be out. I have two of them out and two of them really close.

Let's look at all four teams more specifically.

Maryland won a huge game against North Carolina and they were riding high. They seemed to have the inside shot at the last spot from the ACC and really seemed to be firmly in the tournament. Now they have lost two in a row and most recently they lost to Virginia. Couple that loss with the Morgan State loss and Maryland looks pretty bad. All of the sudden they are 7-9 in the ACC and 5-5 in their last 10. In my opinion, the loss to Virginia sealed the deal and Maryland can't play their way in.

Penn State beat Illinois and man were they riding high. That was their second win against Illinois and they have a win over Michigan State on their resume. I said that after the second Illinois win that Penn State was in, well as long as they beat a bad Iowa team. Well guess what, they didn't beat that bad Iowa team and now they are a huge question. 10-8 in the Big Ten and the big wins that I previously mention help but Iowa is a bad loss. I think they have to win now in the Big Ten tournament at least once to feel comfortable come Sunday. Just think, all they had to do was beat Iowa.

Florida was once a lock for most experts. Then they lost 3 in a row. They weren't against bad teams but it was 3 losses in a row at the end of their season. Not a good time to go into a slump. Mississippi State was the worst loss of the three but earlier in the SEC schedule they lost to Georgia. That is a bad loss. They broke the losing streak with a win over Kentucky, which pretty much sealed the deal for Kentucky, but I don't think that helps Florida a whole bunch. They need a win or two in the SEC tournament to feel comfortable Sunday but in my opinion they are still in right now. They better not lose their first game in the tournament.

Florida had 3 losses in a row but guess what, that's not the worst losing streak of the 4 teams. Speaking of 4, Arizona recently had a 4 game losing streak. That's not good right now! Wait, this just in, they won 7 in a row to get into the conversation. This is the definition of a streaky team and right now they are going the wrong way. Well, they did just beat Stanford but really, I don't think that means a whole lot. They play Arizona State as their first game in the Pac-10 tournament and to be honest, I would not like to be in Arizona's shoes right now. That is definitely a game they could lose and if they do, Sunday will be a long day for the Wildcats.

I'm not a pessimist, I'm just a fan noticing a few bubble teams that may not think they are on the bubble. I don't know but all of these teams could've easily played their way in but they didn't.

Will the real bubble teams please step up?