TCU Climbs, UCLA Locks, USC Falls in Rankings

0:00On March 6, TCU Hornfrogs keep climbing the rankings this week, jumping to number 42 Annette, number 45 in Kenpom, and seeing gains across the board like number 38 in KPI. Their quadrant record shine with five wins and one loss in the second toughest tier, plus strong showings in others. Bracket experts mostly peg them as a ten seed, facing teams like BYU, Georgia or Kentucky in early rounds, with solid tournament odds around 90. The 98% Cincinnati Bearcats surge seven spots to number 42 after crushing BYU by 22 points, now winners of 6 of 7 and eyeing a big, 12 dance ticket. UCLA Bruins locked their spot with a 20 point blow out of Nebraska, while Georgia Bulldogs grabbed their seventh top tier win over Alabama, securing another SEC bid. Oklahoma's sooner state alive with a 16 point win over Missouri, though their at-large hopes remain slim. On the flip side, USC Trojans dropped six spots after six straight losses, all but out

1:04of contention now. New Mexico Lobos fell hard with a home, upset to Colorado State, facing elimination against Utah State next. Teams like Baylor also slip below 500, needing miracle conference runs just to sniff the tournament. The bubble tightens as the regular season wraps, with UCLA and Georgia pushing their conferences to eight and seven locks respectively. Cincinnati desperately needs a win at TCU Saturday to stay in the mix, while Santa Clara Eyes' Deep West Coast Conference Tournament runs. Key matchups loom this weekend, like UCF at West Virginia tonight, that could lock one and doom the other, plus TCU hosting Cincinnati in C-State vs. Stanford and Texas against Oklahoma. The loser in Ohio State Indiana might start sweating too, as every win sharpens the cut line before conference chaos hits.