Bubble Watch: Providence Friars Have Slim Chance to Dance

Unless if the Providence Friars win the Big East tournament, they will likely be disappointed on Selection Sunday, but that does not mean an at-large bid is completely out of the equation.

Let’s take a look at the Friars line of work. What really hurts this team is their out-of-conference schedule, where it had four losses, including bad ones against Penn State, Boston College and Brown…out of the Ivy League.

However, the bubble is pretty weak–which is the case pretty much every year–so wins against Villanova (twice), Cincinnati and Notre Dame don’t look too shabby.

Providence is 17-13 on the year and finished eighth in the Big East at 9-9. We won’t even talk about the computer rankings because they are horrible to say the least. So why are we even talking about this team making the big dance? Well, other than the fact that the bubble is as thin as it gets this year, the Friars could possible earn a pair of dancing shoes with wins over Cincinnati (already beat once this year) and Georgetown in their conference tournament.

It won’t be easy whatsoever, but Providence is 7-2 in its last nine games. Plus, Cincinnati has been horrible down the stretch and the Hoyas did just lose to a pesky Villanova team.

If you are a bubble team, this time of the year is all about selling your team, and what better way to do that than by winning a couple of conference tournament games. However, when it is all said and done, Providence will likely have to make it all of they way to the championship game and that still may not even be enough.