Louisville is on the outside of the bubble looking in, Syracuse is currently in a play-in game as one of the last four teams in the field, and Florida's seemingly safe résumé has now entered No. 10 seed territory.
Suffice it to say these usual NCAA tournament mainstays will be sweating out the next few weeks leading up to Selection Sunday.
While Michigan, a tournament regular, Syracuse (18-10, 7-8 ACC) has lost two of three and faces a red-hot Duke team on the road Saturday. Wednesday night's 78-74 home loss to North Carolina would have been the marquee victory this team needs on its profile. All the other credentials are nice, but losses to Wake Forest and Georgia Tech mean there's little room for toe stubbing. While Michigan, a tournament regular, essentially secured its NCAA tourney inclusion with a 72-63 victory over Penn State on Wednesday, the Orange and Cardinals went in the opposite direction.
Louisville (18-10, 7-8), meanwhile, has lost five of seven and needs to win two of its last three (which includes a March 1 home game vs. Virginia), to offset a weak non-conference strength of schedule. For a program marred by off-the-court distractions, Wednesday's 26-point loss to Duke didn't mend any wounds.
Newly-joined bubble team Florida has a lot to like on its résumé (including Ws vs. Cincinnati and Gonzaga) but three straight losses to low-tier teams (including an ugly stain vs. Vanderbilt) mean it's time to hit the panic button. Should Florida put things together, there's enough talent on the roster to stage an improbably deep tournament run similar to Syracuse's stunning Final Four trip in 2016. All it takes is a ticket to the Dance, but these three power programs are surely on the waiting list.
