Tigers Lose Steam in the Bubble Race

Throughout the rest of the season, Bluff City Media will track Memphis’ NCAA tournament resume every week. Using the NET rankings, KenPom rankings, and ESPN bracketology, we will keep you updated on where the Tigers are ranked.

The Memphis Tigers are now 18-6 overall and 8-3 in American Athletic Conference (AAC) play after a 1-1 week with a home overtime loss to the Tulane Green Wave and a road victory at the South Florida Bulls. The Tigers suffered their first home and Quad 3 defeat of the season but jumped above .500 on the road. They are ranked 42nd in the NET rankings and 37th in the KenPom rankings. 

In ESPN’s latest Bracketology (released on 2/10/23), Joe Lunardi has the Tigers as the “First Team Out” of the NCAA tournament and John Gasaway has them in the “Work to do” column in the Bubble Watch. However, CBS Sports Bracketology Expert, Jerry Palm, still has the Tiger slated as a No. 9 seed in the Midwest (Kansas City) region in his latest bracket prediction (released on 2/6/23).

Next up, the Memphis Tigers will host the Temple Owls on Super Bowl Sunday morning in a Quad 3 game as the Owls are currently ranked 120th in the NET rankings. Also, this matchup presents the Tigers with a huge opportunity to separate themselves from the rest of the pack in the AAC standings as Temple is behind them by one game in the loss column and a win would give the Tigers a three-game lead as they will have the tiebreaker for sweeping the season series against the Owls.

Memphis suffered their first “bad” loss of the season with the home loss to Tulane. Although Tulane is not a bad team (as evidenced by their sweep of the Tigers), the numbers don’t back it up. The good news is Tulane is now ranked 86th in the NET rankings and that home loss could potentially become a Quad 2 loss if they keep winning. So, Memphis is in the unique position of wanting Tulane to keep winning to help their tournament resume while also needing them to lose another game to jump them in the conference standings.

The distinction between the ESPN and CBS Sports bracketology is jarring as the Tigers are out of the tournament in one and a No. 9 seed in the other. What we do know is the Tigers will probably remain on the bubble the rest of the way and could potentially to defeat Houston at least once along the way while avoiding any more Quad 3 or 4 losses to truly feel comfortable heading into Selection Sunday. The Tigers are in the same position they were in last year and might have reinforcements on the way in Malcolm Dandridge and Alex Lomax to help them secure a berth in the NCAA Tournament.