Bubble Talk

Well, welcome back fans. As of late, the three of use have been quite busy with work, school, and personal commitments. But that's not the point of this post, now is it?

With Selection Sunday less than 3 weeks away, let's take a look at some of the teams that need to jump-start their game-quickly. We'll narrow the post down to one team from the Big East, SEC and Big 12 conferences, to keep the length reasonable.

Big East

I'll start in South Bend, where the Irish really need to come up big in their last 2 games (both at home). The losing streak last month didn't quite help, as the Irish would be locks if it weren't for that. As it sits right now, Notre Dame needs to beat both 'Nova AND St. John's to have a chance at the Dance. That would put them at 9-9 in the conference, which should be good enough to get in. But if Notre Dame drops one of those games, it's an 8-10 finish in conference play, and the selection committee could very well leave the Irish at home (unless of course the NIT picks them up). Of course, a run in the Big East tourney would help....

SEC

South Carolina, even at 20-7, doesn't look like the team they were in December. The Gamecocks absolutely layed an egg (no pun intended) against both vanderbilt and Miss St. recently. They're 2nd overall in the SEC and atop the standings in the East division, but they need to pick up their game now. Tennessee comes to town Thursday, and then they visit Georgie next Sunday to finish off the regular season. Wins in both would tremendously help the resume (I know UGA is 11-17, but come on, wins always help). Their signature victory this year is against Baylor, but their non-conference schedule is TERRIBLE (ranked 260 nationally). that loss to College of Charleston hurts don't it boys? SEC tournament may have to be the place where USC earns that invite.

Big 12

Last but not least, Kansas State. Count your lucky stars that you beat Nebraska, because that was the game that saved your season (so far). With OKST and Colorado to finish up this week, K-State needs to win both to finish 10-6 in league play and look "decent" enough for the selection committee to even look at their resume. Excuse my language for a second, but Baylor bitch-slapped them IN Manhattan on January 21st... Not exactly what the Wildcats needed to go onto the resume. Kansas State needs to step up here soon- starting tuesday at OKST.