bubble team
Almost made it
A bubble team in sports is one whose qualification for a tournament or playoff is uncertain—they're right on the edge of making the cut.
The term appears most often during college basketball's March Madness selection period, when analysts debate which teams will receive at-large bids: They're a bubble team that needs to win their conference tournament.
- March MadnessNCAA tournament season
- Selection SundayNCAA tournament announcement day
- bracketologyPredicting elimination tournament outcomes
- sportsCompetitive physical activities
- wild cardUnpredictable factor in play
upset · qualification · elimination · seeding · NCAA · tournament · conference tournament · standings · sweet sixteen · analytics · metrics · resume building · buzzer beater · probability · game day · speculation · college basketball · debate
- College BasketballNCAA, March Madness, bracket, Final Four, Elite Eight
- Pennant Racemagic number, games back, stretch run, clinch, clinching
- tournament bracketsbracket, seed, seedings, second seed, top seed
bubble teamlock
Mechanism requiring a key
shoo-in · cinch · sure thing · no-brainer · foregone conclusion
bubble teamlock
Mechanism requiring a key
powerhouse · juggernaut · cellar dweller · bottom feeder · blue blood
bubble, team, bubbles, bubbled, bubbling, bubbly, teams, teamed, teaming