SEC Bubble Watch: March 12

In the SEC

Neither Auburn's win nor South Carolina's win last night had any bubble impact. Today is another story. Texas A&M must beat Auburn in order to keep its tournament hopes alive, while Ole Miss must beat South Carolina to avoid having to worry on Selection Sunday. In the regular season, A&M swept Auburn, winning 71-61 on the road and 80-55 in College Station. Ole Miss beat South Carolina 65-49 in Oxford.

The bracket situation is still fairly stable. A&M is just on the outside looking in. Ole Miss is the closest to the cut line but has a small amount of cushion. Georgia is comfortably in, and LSU's win over Arkansas seems to have solidified its standing.

Around the Country

Gonzaga did win the WCC Tournament a couple of nights ago, preventing BYU from earning an auto-bid. The Cougars are still on the right side of the bubble for now, but they're not locked in by any stretch.

Last night did not bring much news. What little we got was not overly bad news, but it wasn't good news either.

Texas had little trouble with Texas Tech, beating the Red Raiders 65-53. Miami (FL) held off Virginia Tech 59-49. Stanford came up on the right side of a wild finish, getting by Washington 71-69.

All three of these results would have been better for the SEC bubble teams if they had been reversed—the Texas result especially, as the Longhorns are the only one of the three victors that is above the cut line in the most recent Bracket Matrix. That said, none of these results punch any dance tickets either. They're the equivalent of A&M or Ole Miss winning today: required to stay in the running but not bestowing any real credit.

Today has plenty of games to watch. Teams in bold are bubble teams that are probably above the cut line, while teams in italics are bubble teams that are probably below the cut line right now.

• Michigan vs. Illinois, noon ET, Big Ten Network
• Air Force vs. Boise State, 3 p.m. ET, CBSSN
• Middle Tennessee vs. Old Dominion, 3:30 p.m. ET
• USC vs. UCLA, 5:30 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network
• Northwestern vs. Indiana, 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
• Texas vs. Iowa State, 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU
• Notre Dame vs. Miami (FL), 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
• Fresno State vs. Colorado State, 11:30 p.m. ET, CBSSN
• Stanford vs. Utah, 11:30 p.m. ET, ESPN