There’s been a lot of great discussion on the heels of yesterday’s Top 20 Rankings post, which is awesome. Also awesome is the Bryan Jones, author of No Look Scoober, got at me with a list of teams that he saw as being on the bubble. By his definition, a bubble team is one that “has an outside shot at Nationals, or potential to be a bracket buster come Sunday at Regionals.”
I’ll go ahead and add that I think some of these teams have more than an outside shot. Here’s what Bryan had to say:
Ohio – Ohio Valley
This team has already put together two solid tournaments at both T-Town Throwdown, where they lost in the quarterfinals to Florida, 15-12, and Queen City Tune-Up, where they had a notable win over Georgia in the 3rd place.
Penn State– Ohio Valley
This is a young and upcoming team, and the QCTU quarterfinal loss to Michigan on universe is no fluke. They have solid depth, but are still looking for guys to make plays under pressure. Watch out for when Brian Nevison gets healthy, as an injured hamstring limited him in Charlotte.
Colorado College – South Central
Beat Dartmouth in a close game in pre-quarters and gave UBC the arguably the hardest game of their weekend. I’ll have a watchful eye to see if they can be a bracket buster in upcoming tournaments.
Michigan State – Great Lakes
Their only tournament loss is a swilly game against Georgia. They’ll certainly be in contention in the Great Lakes region.
UCSB – Southwest
They qualified for quarters at both the Santa Barbara Invite and Pres Day, and they’ve got wins over Washington and Cal.
California – Southwest
The only team that has managed to decisively beat them is UCSB, with the majority of their losses coming from within their own region. With their big pickup being Sam Kanner, I have to believe they will be in that California mix.
Middlebury – New England
The Pranksters showed they still had some game even after losing after some senior studs from their 2010 nationals run. Their only loss this year so far is to Florida, and you cannot count them out in New England.
Tufts – New England
We’re still waiting to see them play, but this is a strong team that made Nationals in 2009 and barely missed qualifying last year. Tufts is looking like they are primed to make another run at a New England bid.
Central Florida – Southeast
They separated themselves from the middle of the pack at Tally Classic by beating LSU and Florida State. I’ve been hearing that they’ve got some stud players, we’ll see if they can busts someone bracket come regionals.
UNCW – Atlantic Coast
A disappointing warm up affair for sure, but this team is still a head above the middle of the pack in the Atlantic Coast. They’ll be the favorite for a second bid, and don’t count them out of an upset over UVA.
North Carolina – Atlantic Coast
Athleticism? Check. Play Making Ability? Check. Intense Defense? Check. Consistency? Still looking for it. North Carolina has been the victim of their own mistakes, but has still been playing close games against good teams without Noah Saul. Another team that will be a tough win on Sunday at Regionals.
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