Throughout the season we'll look at bubble teams and assess whether they have a better chance of ending up in the NIT or NCAA Tournament.Team: Massachusetts Minutemen
Record: 19-9 (8-6 A-10)
Good Wins: at Syracuse, at Dayton, Houston, swept Rhode Island
Bad Losses: at Northern Iowa, Fordham, swept by Saint Joseph's
Comments: Like everyone in the A-10 that isn't Xavier, UMass has had moments where they look like a team that could make waves in the tournament and those where the NIT seems like a stretch. The wins over URI and Dayton are big in a league that increasingly looks like a bad bet to land more than two teams in the dance.
Other Views: They rank 39th in RPI, 54th on Basketball State, 74th in Pomeroy Ratings and 56th in Sagarin Ratings.
Outlook: If UMass can win their final two regular season games, and get some help from Temple, they will finish no worse than tied for second in the A-10. They'd also have six straight wins to close the year, no small effort in what's been one of the tightest conference races in the whole country. Unless they stumble twice more, regular season or A-10 tourney, they should eke out a bid thanks to the overall strength of the conference.
