Yesterday's bubble action -
Syracuse - Syracuse wins at the buzzer in Littlejohn. This almost certainly closes the door on Clemson's season and continues to bolster Syracuse's tournament bid. They've won five straight and have Pittsburgh on the road next.
Illinois State - ISU took care of business, as expected. They likely need to win out and make the MVC finals against Wichita State for an auto-bid. Any other loss in-conference would be a bad loss.
Dayton - The Flyers eked out a win at home against a bad Saint Joseph's team. They're solidly in the tournament at this point, but can't drop games like yesterday's and feel overly comfortable.
Arkansas - Razorbacks lost at home to Vanderbilt. This certainly helps Wake as they are also projected to be right at the bubble line. While this isn't a "bad loss", Arkansas certainly should have won, and it was never really a close game.
Iowa State - Thanks Shaka. Wake gets more help with the Cyclones losing at Texas. Iowa State has a much better resume than Wake, and they are currently projected as a 7-to-9 seed, but this is a sub-100 loss for Iowa State (Texas RPI is currently 128).
Texas Tech at TCU - Both are bubble teams, though TCU is projected in the field and Texas Tech is projected out. The TCU win solidifies that. We stack up favorably with Texas Tech.
Michigan State at Michigan - The Wolverines smoked the Spartans. Even though this is a nice win for Michigan, who is also on the bubble, one could argue that this was a good result for Wake if it brings Michigan State down a notch.
Marquette vs. #22 Butler - Marquette failed to get a nice win at home against a ranked Butler squad. Marquette was favored by 1.5, so I'm sure they're a disappointed they didn't pull this one off. They're on the right side of the bubble.
Georgia Tech (13-10, RPI 75, KP 78) vs. Tusculum - Georgia Tech beats Tusculum by 38 in a thrilling victory.
Teams on the outside that needed a lot of help -
Georgia vs. #17 Florida - Bulldogs were unable to beat Florida despite keeping it close most of the way. They're out and not a threat.
Georgetown at #2 Villanova - Nova got out to a quick lead and was able to maintain it in the second half. Georgetown also isn't much of a threat.
Illinois at Northwestern - Illinois picked up a nice win at Welsh-Ryan arena (curse of 2004). They still have a lot to do, but this is a nice start as they try to get back in contention.
Alabama at #19 South Carolina - Bama wins a 4OT thriller. A very good win for their resume. Like Illinois, they have a lot of work remaining and this may be too little, too late.
Memphis vs. Tulsa - Memphis wins big. To truly get back in the conversation they need to win at either Cincinnati (2/23) or at SMU (3/4), while taking care of the rest of the cupcakes on their schedule.
Auburn vs. Mississippi State - Auburn wins a shootout. On the outside looking in, but if they pull off an upset against Florida on Valentine's Day they could be back in the conversation.