Tired of hearing about bubble teams yet? While it might not appear Florida, UTEP or Minnesota are worthy of NCAA Tournament bids, hang on just a second before filling out those brackets. We present the Top 10 Bubble Teams Ever that flipped convention on its head with magical March runs despite just eeking into the tournament since it expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
Note: In order to qualify, teams must be a double-digit seed
.
Stay connected with LostLettermen.com via Facebook, Twitter, E-Mail & RSS Follow @lostlettermen 
10. 2008 Villanova: #12 Seed (Sweet Sixteen)
The Wildcats did pretty much everything they could to miss the ’08 tournament, losing 8 of 12 toward the end of the regular season and falling to Georgetown by 19 in the Big East tourney.
At first, they didn’t even appear to show up for the Big Dance, falling behind by 18 to Clemson in the first round. But then Scottie Reynolds flashed his brilliance with 21 points to mount a historic comeback. With a lucky draw against No. 13 Siena in the second round, Villanova advanced to the Sweet Sixteen while Georgetown got bounced by Stephen Curry. No match for the eventual national champion, ‘Nova got crushed by Kansas, 72-57.
.
9. 2005 NC State: #10 Seed (Sweet Sixteen)
Not only did the Wolfpack barely make the tournament, Herb Sendek’s hot seat was scorching in 2005. After starting the season 10-1, NC State dropped 9 of its next 12 and needed a victory over Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament just to get in.
That’s when Julius Hodge took over. After a near triple-double in the first round win over Charlotte, he converted a 3-point play in the final seconds to down defending national champion and No. 2 seed Connecticut. The Pack then jumped out to a 9-point halftime lead over Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen, before breaking down in the second half of a 65-56 defeat.
.
8. 1985 Kentucky: #12 Seed (Sweet Sixteen)
For a school used to competing for national championships, being on the bubble is sickening to Wildcat fans. But Kentucky was fortunate to even be there after both Sam Bowie and Melvin Turpin went in the top six picks of the ’84 NBA Draft. UK lost three of its first four games, including a stinker vs. SMU in Rupp Arena. And the Cats didn’t bolster their resume that they lost four of their final six games as well.
But the Cats proved were worthy of a bid, first knocking off Detlef Schrempf and 5th-seeded Washington. Led by Kenny “Sky” Walker’s 23 points, UK then took down Armen Gilliam’s UNLV squad. But even Walker couldn’t overcome a St. John’s team armed with Chris Mullin, Walter Berry and Mark Jackson, who combined for 64 points in a 16-point win in the Sweet Sixteen.
.
7. 1991 UConn: #11 Seed (Sweet Sixteen)
After a run to the 1990 Elite Eight with Tate George’s heroics, it appeared all of UConn’s magic had run out. In 1991, they lost six in a row in January and bowed out of the Big East Tournament first round with a humiliating 19-point loss to Georgetown.
But given new life by the selection committee, the Huskies looked like a completely different team in the dance, crushing LSU by 17 and Xavier by 16 to make the Sweet Sixteen. It set up a rematch of last season’s Elite Eight vs. Duke. As if Christian Laettner hadn’t caused enough heart-break the year before with this shot, he had a game-high 19 points in a 81-67 victory to crush the Huskies’ dreams again on Duke’s march to a national title.
.
6. 1991 Temple: #10 Seed (Elite Eight)
A college basketball power at the time, Temple’s NCAA bid looked dicey after a 25-point loss to West Virginia in the closing weeks and falling to Penn State in the A-10 Tournament. A big fall for a school that went 32-2 just three seasons earlier.
Knocking off Purdue in the first round, they then caught a huge break: Richmond became the first No. 15 ever to win by knocking off Syracuse. The Owls steamrolled the Spiders and bounced Oklahoma State in overtime, setting up a matchup with North Carolina, billed as “John Chaney vs. Dean Smith.” Despite a monster 31-point game from Mark Macon, he missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie it, leaving his coach short of the Final Four once again and in tears.
.
.
.
Got a question or comment? E-mail us here
Liked this story? Click here for Lost Lettermen’s RSS feed and receive all our great content
Click here to start contributing to our wiki database of over 150,000 former college athletes and help us answer the question, “Where Are They Now?”
Left off the list: 2003 Auburn, 10 seed.
First they upset Deleonte West and Jameer Nelson’s St Joe, who didn’t lose again for another 30 games.
Then they beat #2 seed Wake Forest and Josh Howard, who wound up playing with Marquis Daniels in Dallas the next year as rookies.
Then , they lost by 1 point to Melo and The Cuse, giving Syracuse its only real scare of the entire Tourney.
How in the hell do you not put Davidson on that list? They beat conference champions Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin and took eventual champion Kansas to the last shot of the game in the Elite Eight.
Davidson won their conf. tourney that year… hence, not a bubble team
yeah DAvidson did a Hell of a job that year but they were not a bubble team.