Joe Lunardi breaks down key bubble games to watch

As college basketball season gets down to crunch time and a handful of teams jockey for positioning in the NCAA Tournament, a handful of others are fighting for their tournament lives on the bubble.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi highlighted four games that should be on definite watch on Saturday as impact games in the bubble picture.

One of them is a key ACC showdown.

“Wake at home against Duke, certainly a win would slide the Demon Deacons into the field,” Lunardi said. “You could argue they should be there already. But this is where the bubble is.”

Wake Forest is 17-9 on the season, with a 9-6 record in ACC play, just three games out of the lead in the conference title race. The Demon Deacons had recent chances for top 25 wins against Duke and Virginia but came up empty, with both contests on the road.

The Duke game is the last high-quality opponent on the schedule, so it’s an important one.

Another one of the bubble games to watch is in the SEC, where Texas A&M and Tennessee are set to tussle this evening.

“A&M, last team in the field, they’re on our air at Thompson-Boling tonight against Tennessee,” Lunardi said. “Tough duty.”

ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis also chimed in on the importance of the matchup, looking at it from the other end. It’s also a big game for Tennessee.

“Keep an eye on that Texas A&M-Tennessee game tonight,” Davis said. “Now A&M I don’t think is a Quad 1 opportunity for them, but Tennessee has four more of those down the gut, so if somebody is going to make a run at that one seed if it was available it likely is the Volunteers.”

Two of the other games that Lunardi had circled on bubble watch today were South Carolina at Ole Miss and Butler at Seton Hall. Two of those teams appear right on the cut line currently for Lunardi.

He has Seton Hall among his “Last Four In,” along with Providence, Gonzaga and Texas A&M.

Meanwhile, Lunardi has Ole Miss among his “First Four Out,” along with Wake Forest, Utah and Villanova.

Needless to say, today’s games will have a significant impact on the NCAA Tournament picture with about two weeks remaining in regular season play.