NCAA Tournament March Madness Bubble Watch: UC Irvine

NCAA Tournament March Madness

#124 UC Irvine

Bubble Watch | Bracketology

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Projection: likely out

UC Irvine’s résumé is defined by a stout defense that produced its clearest wins, like the neutral-site victory over South Dakota State and the road win at San Jose State, but those highs are offset by a low-output neutral loss to New Mexico State and narrow defeats at Utah Valley and to Northern Iowa that undermine the profile. Many of the other wins come against lesser conference foes, so the team’s standing hangs on a handful of upcoming opportunities: a marquee home matchup with Belmont and road trips to Hawaii and UC Davis are the kinds of tests that would validate the defense and silence concerns about an inconsistent offense. Until those chances are settled, the combination of elite defense, offensive lapses in key games, and limited signature victories explains a cautious posture.

Date	Opponent	Ranking	Outcome
11/7	Cal Baptist	131	L69-61
11/15	Weber St	209	W79-70
11/19	@Utah Valley	85	L79-72
11/22	Northern Iowa	98	L70-69
11/25	(N)New Mexico St	133	L57-45
11/26	(N)S Dakota St	178	W64-52
11/30	@San Jose St	184	W72-63
12/4	UC Riverside	250	W73-60
12/6	CS Northridge	247	W85-71
12/19	Belmont	74	42%
12/21	(N)N Dakota St	151	58%
1/1	@CS Bakersfield	309	77%
1/3	@CS Fullerton	279	71%
1/8	Long Beach St	265	85%
1/10	@Hawaii	101	32%
1/11	@Hawaii	101	32%
1/17	@UC Davis	166	51%
1/22	@UC Riverside	250	66%
1/24	@UC San Diego	99	31%
1/29	Hawaii	101	53%
2/5	CS Bakersfield	309	90%
2/7	@UC Santa Barbara	140	43%
2/12	@Cal Poly	241	64%
2/14	CS Fullerton	279	87%
2/19	@Long Beach St	265	69%
2/21	UC San Diego	99	52%
2/26	@CS Northridge	247	66%
2/28	UC Santa Barbara	140	65%
3/5	Cal Poly	241	82%
3/7	UC Davis	166	72%