Bubble Watch: Providence (PC) & Rhode Island (URI)

Here are the latest Bubble Watch comments for PC & URI, via ESPN:

Providence [18-11 (10-7), RPI: 68, SOS: 51] Even after upsetting No. 1 Pittsburgh 81-73 at home Monday and then beating Rutgers 73-66 on the road Sunday, the Friars are probably still on the wrong side of the bubble. Providence might need to beat Villanova on the road Thursday to have a legitimate chance for an at-large bid. The Friars have only two RPI top-50 victories: the aforementioned upset of Pittsburgh and a 100-94 win over Syracuse at home on Jan. 28. The Friars swept two games against fellow Big East bubble team Cincinnati and also have a home victory over surging Rhode Island. But Providence is only 2-7 against RPI top-50 foes and 5-11 against the top 100.

Comments: They say that PC is on the wrong side of the bubble, but the latest version of Bracketology has them as a 12 seed going against LSU in the first round. I think the Big East "people" would be up in arms if PC does not get in the tournament with 10 Big East wins. However, that still looks like it is a strong possibility. Of course, PC can end all of this talk by beating Villanova on Thursday and then winning their first Big East tourney game.

Rhode Island [22-8 (11-4), RPI: 54, SOS: 132] After beating Dayton 93-91 on a buzzer beater in overtime Wednesday, the Rams won at Duquesne 73-71 on Sunday. They trail Xavier by one game in the loss column of the Atlantic 10 standings with an 11-4 record. Rhode Island closes the regular season at home against Massachusetts on Saturday. Rhode Island has two victories over RPI top-50 opponents, beating Dayton and Temple. The Rams also beat Penn State 77-72 on a neutral court on Nov. 28 and beat Virginia Commonwealth 92-86 at home on Nov. 22. The Rams are 2-5 against RPI top-50 opponents and 5-6 against the top 100.

Comments: The Bubble Watch really doesn't say too much about URI's chances to get in the tournament, so I can only assume they aren't all that great unless they go deep into the A-10 tournament. It's still a long shot for URI to win the A-10, which would have almost assured an automatic bid. URI is going to want to win the A-10 tournament though, because all it will take is a few upsets in some other conference tournaments for them to be eliminated from the auto-bid conversation completely.

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