Which NCAA tournament bubble teams are hot?

Streaks can be an NCAA tournament bubble team's best friend. Especially this time of year each consecutive victory bolsters a borderline's team's chances of reaching the field of 68. On the flipside, teams that were top 25 fixtures, like a Butler, can easily lose what once appeared to postseason security because of a dreadful losing streak.

Here's a look at which NCAA tournament hopefuls are hot and which are not right now.

Heating up

1. Wisconsin (7-4, 15-9): The Badgers have won six games in a row, including a noteworthy victory against Michigan State, and have a serious test at Maryland on Saturday. They'll want to avoid résumé-staining losses since they already lost to Milwaukee and Western Illinois in non-conference play. The team is finding its identity, though. Since mid-January, coach Greg Gard has the Badgers looking more like a Big Ten contender than a bubble team.

2. Tulsa (16-8, 8-4): The Golden Hurricane desperately needed another top-50 win and got it in the form of a road victory Wednesday at AAC-leader SMU. Perhaps one win shouldn't get a bubble team classifed as hot, but Tulsa wasn't going to have many chances in conference play to get marquee victories, so this was big. Now the task at hand will be avoiding ugly losses.

3. Syracuse (16-8, 6-5): The Orange have won six of their past seven, and that loss came on the road at Virginia. That comes after an 0-4 start in ACC play in the midst of coach Jim Boeheim's NCAA suspension. Syracuse looked impressive at the beginning of the season, winning the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. After a mid-season rough patch, it's starting to look good again.

Cooling off

1. Michigan (18-7, 8-4): Despite a road win at Minnesota on Wednesday night, the Wolverines are far from hot. Their profile only includes two top-50 wins, and they got blown out in two chances against Indiana and Michigan State at home.

2. UCLA (13-10, 4-6): The Bruins have lost three of four, including a 19-point drubbing by rival USC. UCLA has decent victories for its credentials, beating Arizona and Kentucky. But the Pac-12 is cluttered with bubble teams, most of which have better overall résumés than the Bruins.

3. Washington (15-9, 7-5): Another Pac-12 team that's struggling, the Huskies have lost four of six. And their non-conference sttrength of schedule (118) won't allow them to plummet in league play and stay tourney-bound.

Bubble Tracker conference-by-conference breakdowns of the strength and weaknesses of borderline teams. Data as of Feb. 11. (Results/records shown are against Division I opponents only)

• Locks: N/A
• Probable: N/A
• Bubble: Connecticut, Cincinnati, Temple, Tulsa 

In for now

Connecticut: 17-6 (7-3), 43 RPI, 68 SoS, 61 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. Texas

The Bad: N o bad losses to date

Cincinnati: 18-7 (8-4), 67 RPI, 102 SoS, 177 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. George Washington, Virginia Commonwealth, Connecticut, Tulsa

The Bad: Loss vs. Memphis

Tulsa: 16-8 (8-4) 41 RPI, 46 SoS, 80 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Wichita State, Connecticut, SMU

The Bad: Losses vs. Houston, Oral Roberts

Out for now

Temple: 14-8 (8-3) 68 RPI, 76 SoS, 171 non-conference

The Good: Wins vs. SMU, Connecticut, Tulsa

The Bad: Losses vs. Houston, East Carolina, Memphis

• Locks: Virginia, North Carolina, Miami
• Probable: Notre Dame, Duke, Pittsburgh 
• Bubble: Syracuse, Florida State, Clemson

In for now

Syracuse: 16-8 (6-5) 48 RPI, 37 SoS, 108 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Texas A&M, Duke, Notre Dame, St. Bonaventure, Connecticut

The Bad: Loss vs. St. Johns

Florida State: 16-7 (6-5) 39 RPI, 66 SoS, 198 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Virginia, Florida, VCU

The Bad: No bad losses to date

Out for now

Clemson: 14-10 (7-5) 90 RPI, 70 SoS, 337 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Miami, Duke, Louisville, Florida State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse

The Bad: Losses vs. Virginia Tech, Massachusetts, Minnesota

• Locks: Dayton
• Probable: N/A
• Bubble: VCU, George Washington, St. Joseph's, St. Bonaventure, Davidson

In for now

VCU: 17-6 (9-1) 42 RPI, 69 SoS, 80 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Saint Bonaventure, Saint Joseph’s

The Bad: No bad losses to date

Saint Joseph’s: 20-4 (9-2) 27 RPI, 75 SoS, 73 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. George Washington

The Bad: No bad losses to date

Out for now

George Washington: 18-6 (7-4) 51 RPI, 91 SoS, 188 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Virginia, Seton Hall, Virginia Commonwealth

The Bad: Losses vs. DePaul, Richmond, Saint Louis

St. Bonaventure: 16-6 (8-3) 37 RPI, 82 SoS, 168 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. St. Joseph’s, Davidson

The Bad: Losses vs. Siena, Duquesne

Davidson: 13-8 (6-5) 57 RPI, 59 SoS, 46 non-conference SoS

The Good: No top 50 RPI wins to date

The Bad: Loss vs. Saint Louis

• Locks: Villanova, Xavier
• Probable: Providence
• Bubble: Seton Hall, Butler, Georgetown, Creighton 

In for now

Seton Hall: 17-7 (7-5) 53 RPI, 67 SoS, 251 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Wichita State, Providence

The Bad: No bad losses to date

Out for now

Butler: 17-7 (6-6) 58 RPI, 90 SoS, 210 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. Purdue, Seton Hall

The Bad: Loss vs. Marquette

Georgetown: 14-11 (7-5) 74 RPI, 32 SoS, 30 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Xavier, Syracuse

The Bad: Losses vs. North Carolina-Asheville, Radford

Creighton: 16-9 (7-5) 85 RPI, 92 SoS, 288 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. Seton Hall, Xavier

The Bad: Loss vs. Loyola-Chicago

• Locks: Iowa, Michigan State, Maryland
• Probable: Purdue
• Bubble: Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio State

In for now

Indiana: 19-5 (9-2) 54 RPI, 135 SoS, 206 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. Notre Dame

The Bad: Losses vs. Penn State, UNLV, Wake Forest

Michigan: 17-7 (8-4) 56 RPI, 78 SoS, 134 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Maryland, Texas

The Bad: No bad losses to date

Out for now

Wisconsin: 15-9 (7-4) 64 RPI, 19 SoS, 41 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Michigan State, VCU, Syracuse

The Bad: Losses vs. Marquette, Northwestern, Milwaukee, Western Illinois

Ohio State: 15-10 (7-5) 80 RPI, 48 SoS, 71 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. Kentucky

The Bad: Losses vs. Texas-Arlington, Memphis, Louisiana Tech

• Locks: Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa State, West Virginia, Texas
• Probable: Baylor
• Bubble: Kansas State, Texas Tech

Out for now

Texas Tech: 14-9 (4-7) 47 RPI, 6 SoS, 58 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Texas, Iowa State

The Bad: Loss to Arkansas. 

Kansas State: 14-10 (3-8) 59 RPI, 9 SoS, 131 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. Oklahoma, Texas Tech

The Bad: No bad losses to date

• Locks: Oregon, USC, Utah
• Probable: Arizona
• Bubble: Oregon State, California, Colorado, Washington, UCLA, Stanford, Arizona State

In for now

Oregon State: 13-8 (5-6) 38 RPI, 8 SoS, 84 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Oregon, USC, Utah, Colorado, California

The Bad: No bad losses to date

California: 15-8 (5-5) 34 RPI, 27 SoS, 103 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Davidson

The Bad: Loss vs. Richmond

Colorado: 16-7 (7-5) 28 RPI, 30 SoS, 109 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Oregon, California, Oregon State

The Bad: No bad losses to date

Washington: 15-9 (7-5) 60 RPI, 24 SoS, 118 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. USC, Texas, Colorado

The Bad: Loss vs. Oakland

Out for now

UCLA: 13-10 (4-6) 71 RPI, 17 SoS, 36 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Kentucky, Arizona, Oregon State

The Bad: Loss vs. Washington State

Stanford: 10-10 (4-6) 72 RPI, 2 SoS, 45 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Utah, California, Oregon State

The Bad: No bad losses to date

Arizona State: 13-11 (3-8) 74 RPI, 25 SoS, 38 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Texas A&M, Oregon State

The Bad: Losses vs. Sacramento State, Marquette

• Locks: Texas A&M, Kentucky
• Probable: South Carolina, Florida
• Bubble: LSU, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Georgia 

In for now

LSU: 15-9 (8-3) 76 RPI, 71 SoS, 196 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. Kentucky

The Bad: Losses vs. North Carolina State, Houston, Marquette

Out for now

Alabama: 14-9 (5-6) 50 RPI, 16 SoS, 17 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. South Carolina, Notre Dame, Wichita State, Texas A&M

The Bad: Loss vs. Auburn

Vanderbilt: 14-10 (6-5) 63 RPI, 23 SoS, 23 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. Texas A&M, Florida, Alabama

The Bad: Loss vs. Arkansas

Georgia: 13-9 (6-5) 70 RPI, 26 SoS, 11 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. South Carolina

The Bad: No bad losses to date

*Assuming teams don't win their smaller conference tournaments and secure the automatic bid. 

• Locks: N/A
• Probable: N/A
• Bubble: Wichita State, Monmouth, Gonzaga, St. Mary's, San Diego State, Valparaiso, Chattanooga 

In for now

Wichita State: 17-6 (12-1) 33 RPI, 89 SoS, 5 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. Utah

The Bad: Loss vs. Illinois State

Monmouth: 20-5 (12-2) 31 RPI, 129 SoS, 25 non-conference SoS

The Good: Wins vs. USC, Notre Dame

The Bad: Losses vs. Canisius, Army, Manhattan

Gonzaga: 18-5 (11-2) 66 RPI, 121 SoS, 52 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. Connecticut

The Bad: No bad losses to date

Saint Mary’s: 18-3 (10-2) 49 RPI, 192 SoS, 215 non-conference SoS

The Good: No top 50 RPI wins to date

The Bad: Loss vs. Pepperdine

Out for now

San Diego State: 16-7 (11-1) 44 RPI, 57 SoS, 10 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. California

The Bad: Losses vs. Grand Canyon, San Diego, Fresno State

Valparaiso: 18-4 (10-1) 45 RPI, 182 SoS, 43 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. Oregon State

The Bad: Losses vs. Wright State, Ball State

Chattanooga: 20-3 (11-1) 32 RPI, 175 SoS, 189 non-conference SoS

The Good: Win vs. Dayton

The Bad: Losses vs. Furman, Louisiana Monroe

***

Note: All RPI and statistical data is used from WarrenNolan.com.

About our bracketologist: Shelby Mast has been projecting the field since 2005 and has finished as one of the top 5 national bracketologists for his website, Bracket W.A.G. He’s predicted for The Indianapolis Star, collegeinsider.com and is an inaugural member of the Super 10 Selection Committee. Follow him on Twitter @BracketWag.

NCAA TOURNAMENT BUBBLE TEAMS