Kentucky Sports Radio

Joe Lunardi is the bracketology equivalent of UK-obsessed fans who camp out for days in the cold for Midnight Madness (I still refuse to believe it has changed to Big Blue Madness) tickets. He eats, sleeps and breathes bracketology. In his latest set of predictions, Lunardi has Kentucky squeezing in the tournament with a little room to spare as a 10-seed. After yesterday’s assortment of games, surprises and upsets, Lunardi made a few quick updates to his “Last 4 in”, “First 4 out” and “Teams Moving In/Out.”

As of 11 p.m. last night, here’s how Lunardi sees things shaking out:

Last 4 in: Temple, Boise State, Wyoming, Villanova

First 4 out: Arizona State, Maryland, St. Mary’s, Iowa

Moving IN: Iowa State, La Salle

Moving OUT: Maryland, St. Mary’s

Although Kentucky has been teetering dangerously close to “the bubble,” the teams listed above are in fact the current teams making up “the bubble.” We know what Kentucky has done this season (13-6 overall, 4-2 SEC, RPI: 65, Pomeroy:23). We know the resume’. We know the wins. We know the losses. We know the potential. We know the reality. Let’s take a look at what the current “bubble teams” have done…

*Wins over ranked opponents indicate the ranking of the opponent AT THE TIME of the win, not the current ranking

1. Temple

Atlantic 10  13-6 overall (2-3 conference)  RPI: 57

Good wins: Villanova (very early), #3 Syracuse,

The losses: 90-67 to #2 Duke, 72-62 to Canisius, 69-62 to #6 Kansas, 57-52 to Xavier, 81-78 to St. Bonaventure, 83-71 to #9 Butler

Last 4 games: 2-2 with losses to St. Bonaventure and Butler

Chances for good wins remaining: vs. #19 VCU

2. Boise State

Mountain West  14-5 overall (2-3 conference)   RPI: 58

Good wins: #11 Creighton

The losses: 74-70 to #15 Michigan State, 76-55 to Utah, 79-74 to #19 New Mexico (OT), 91-80 to Air Force, 75-59 to Nevada

Last 4 games: 1-3 with losses to New Mexico, Air Force and Nevada

Chances for good wins remaining: @ #15 New Mexico, @UNLV

3. Wyoming

Mountain West   15-4 overall (2-4 conference)   RPI: 54

Good wins: #19 Colorado, #15 San Diego State

The losses: 63-61 to Boise State, 49-36 to Fresno State, 62-50 to UNLV, 57-48 to Air Force

Last 4 games: 1-3 with losses to Fresno State, UNLV and Air Force

Chances for good wins remaining: #15 New Mexico, UNLV

4. Villanova

Big East  13-7 overall (4-3 conference)    RPI: 52

Good wins: #5 Louisville, #3 Syracuse

The losses: 77-55 to Alabama, 75-57 to Columbia, 77-74 to La Salle (OT), 76-61 to Temple, 72-61 to Syracuse, 58-43 to Pittsburgh, 69-66 to Providence

Last 4 games: 2-2 with losses to Pittsburgh and Providence

Chances for good wins remaining: @ #24 Notre Dame, @ #21 Cincinnati

5. Arizona State

Pac-12   16-4 overall (5-2 conference)    RPI: 53

Good wins: UCLA

The losses: 87-73 to #14 Creighton, 78-61 to DePaul, 68-65 to Oregon, 71-54 to #7 Arizona

Last 4 games: 2-2 with losses to Oregon and Arizona

Chances for good wins remaining: @ UCLA, @ #6 Arizona

6. Maryland

ACC   15-5 overall (3-4 conference)    RPI: 60

Good wins: NC State

The losses: 72-69 to #3 Kentucky, 65-62 to Florida State, 54-47 to Miami (FL), 62-52 to North Carolina, 84-64 to #1 Duke

Last 4 games: 2-2 with losses to North Carolina and Duke

Chances for good wins remaining: #1 Duke

7. St. Mary’s

West Coast  17-4 overall (6-1 conference)   RPI: 59

Good wins:

The losses: 76-66 to Pacific, 65-56 to Georgia Tech, 82-75 to Northern Iowa, 83-78 to #9 Gonzaga

Last 4 games: 4-0 with wins over BYU, Portland, San Diego and Pepperdine

Chances for good wins remaining: #10 Gonzaga

8. Iowa

Big Ten 13-6 overall (2-4 conference)    RPI: 74

Good wins: Wisconsin

The losses: 75-63 to Wichita State, 95-79 to Virginia Tech, 69-65 to #5 Indiana, 95-67 to #2 Michigan, 62-59 to #22 Michigan State, 72-63 to #14 Ohio State

Last 4 games: 2-2 with losses to Michigan State and Ohio State

Chances for good wins remaining: @ #12 Minnesota, @ #7 Indiana

9. Iowa State

Big 12   14-5 overall (4-2 conference)    RPI: 39

Good wins: #11 Kansas State

The losses: 78-70 to #22 Cincinnati, 82-70 to #18 UNLV, 80-71 to Iowa, 97-89 (OT) to #6 Kansas, 56-51 to Texas Tech

Last 4 games: 3-1 with a loss Texas Tech, wins over West Virginia, TCU and #11 Kansas State

Chances for good wins remaining: @ #11 Kansas State, #3 Kansas,

10. La Salle

Atlantic 10  14-5 overall (4-2 conference)   RPI: 26

Good wins: Villanova, #9 Butler, #19 VCU

The losses: 81-74 to Central Connecticut State, 74-66 to Bucknell, 76-59 to Miami (FL), 74-65 to Charlotte, 70-63 to Xavier

Chances for good wins remaining:

When looking at the 10 teams listed above who make up the current “bubble,” the biggest thing I keep thinking is:  How is the NCAA going to find 68 teams to put in the tournament? Kentucky still has way too many games left to feel safe about inclusion or worried about exclusion. But for those who are worried about Kentucky being a tournament team or not TODAY… looking at the 10 teams who are currently on the bubble, could you find 68 teams with better resumes than Kentucky’s? Ohhh, this year in college basketball…