Bubble Watch Heading Into March 5th

Notre Dame became the 17th team to lock their place in the Field of 68.

The bubble also shrunk, with Cincinnati pulling off with a win and Pittsburgh dropping off with a loss. That leaves the bubble now at 16 teams for 10 spots.

Here is how the bubble stands as we head into Thursday, March 5th:

Tournament locks (17 teams): 
Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Virginia, Villanova, Maryland, Wisconsin, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wichita State, Arizona, Utah, Kentucky, Gonzaga

Automatic bids yet to be awarded (32, of which 24 are not projected to be won by teams currently locked into the Tournament):
AAC, America East, ACC, Atlantic Sun, A-10, Big East, Big Sky, Big South, Big Ten, Big 12, Big West, Colonial, CUSA, Horizon, Ivy, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, MVC, MWC, NEC, OVC, Pac-12, Patriot, SEC, SoCon, Southland, Summit, Sun Belt, SWAC, WCC, WAC

Teams that look safe (8):
SMU, Butler, Georgetown, Providence, West Virginia, Northern Iowa, San Diego State, Arkansas

Teams definitely in the Tournament... for now (12):
Cincinnati, Dayton, Temple, VCU, St. John's, Xavier, Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Colorado State, Georgia

The Bubble (16 teams for 10 bids):
Tulsa, Miami, NC State, Davidson, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Texas, Texas A&M, Boise State, UCLA, Oregon, Stanford, LSU, Mississippi, BYU

Best of the rest (7):
Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island, Richmond, UMass, Old Dominion, Louisiana Tech

Long shots (20):
Memphis, Clemson, George Washington, Minnesota, Kansas State, UTEP,  Green Bay, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Wyoming, Murray State, Arizona State, California, Oregon State, Alabama, Florida, Vanderbilt, Wofford, Stephen F. Austin, Saint Mary's