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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pac-12 has several teams on NCAA bubble

UCLA coach Steve Alford and his Bruins are 14-1 at home. (Associated Press)
John Marshall Associated Press

The Pac-12’s NCAA tournament bubble is beginning to pulsate.

No. 7 Arizona and No. 13 Utah are virtual locks to make the bracket, at this point fighting for higher seeds.

After that, the Pac-12 has three teams that could have a good shot with a strong finish and two others that will really need to make some noise at the end of the season.

Once on the outside looking in, Oregon (21-8) put itself squarely inside the bubble with its massive home win over Utah last Sunday. The Ducks beat California on the road Wednesday and could enhance their bracket chances by knocking off fellow bubble team Stanford in northern California today.

The Cardinal (18-9) did not make it easy on themselves with four losses in five games, but followed that up with wins over Cal and Oregon State. Sunday’s game against Oregon will be huge for Stanford, which closes the regular season with a road trip against the two Arizona schools.

UCLA (17-12) still has some work to do after a troubling trip to Arizona that resulted in a pair of losses. The Bruins bounced back to beat Washington, but can’t afford slipups against Washington State and rival USC to close out the regular season. UCLA is 14-1 at home with its only loss to No. 3 Gonzaga, which could help.

The surprise of the early conference season, Oregon State (17-11) has taken a tumble with four losses in five games. The Beavers have some ugly losses – Quinnipiac was a big one – and an RPI of 89, so winning the Pac-12 tournament may be their only shot.

Arizona State (15-13) is in the same lifeboat as Oregon State, likely needing to win the conference tournament to get into the bracket for the second straight season. The Sun Devils knocked off rival Arizona, but have too many losses and an RPI too low (82) to expect an invite at this point.

A few teams rising on the NCAA tournament bubble:

On the rise

Georgia. The Bulldogs (19-9) needed a quality road win to pad their resume and got it Wednesday night by knocking off fellow bubbler Mississippi 76-72. A decent RPI (30) and strength of schedule (35) should keep Georgia in good shape if it doesn’t trip up down the stretch.

Davidson. The Wildcats (21-6) have won seven straight and recently got point guard Jack Gibbs back after he suffered a knee injury. Davidson’s RPI of 48 is average and its strength of schedule is weak at 122nd, so a few more wins could strengthen its case.

LSU. The Tigers (20-8) aren’t exactly on the rise, more holding steady. A loss to Texas A&M last week didn’t look good, but LSU completed a season sweep of Florida and knocked off Auburn on the road since then. Some tough games coming up, beginning with Saturday’s 73-63 win over Mississippi.

St. John’s. The Red Storm (20-9) picked up a huge win on Monday by knocking off fellow bubble team Xavier by one, their fourth win in five games. There’s still some tough games left, though, including No. 6 Villanova in the regular-season finale.