Mark Schlabach and the ESPN Bubble Watch have officially welcomed Villanova into the “lock” category of the bubble watch. ‘Nova joins fellow Big East teams UConn, Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Marquette.

Say hello to Villanova, which becomes the fifth Big East team to earn “lock” status by blasting Marquette 102-84 at home on Tuesday night. Say good-bye to Notre Dame, which becomes the country’s most disappointing team with a seven-game losing streak and 3-7 mark in Big East play. If Georgetown doesn’t turn its season around quickly, it will join the not-so-Fighting Irish on a growing list of underachievers.

I know a lot of ‘Nova Nation has been calling for Villanova to be considered a “lock” since the Syracuse win, but the win over Marquette really sealed the deal. And to be honest, I don’t like the term lock. What if ‘Nova loses out? They aren’t going dancing. But hey, it seems like people have noticed the Wildcats’ great play and now consider them among the Big East elite, which is good enough for me for the time being.

Andy Glockner has updated his Bubble Watch for Sports Illustrated. Glockner believes that the Big 4 in The Big East are safely in, but ranks Villanova just outside in the “Should Be In” category.

“Villanova (19-4, 7-3; RPI: 12, SOS: 24) is now clearly next in the batting order after edging Providence and drilling Syracuse, and you could make a strong argument that they should be one level higher than this, as the resume is quite comparable with Marquette’s given the Golden Eagles’ easier conference schedule so far. Nova’s remaining schedule isn’t easy, though, so let’s hold off a week. The Wildcats can help themselves on Tuesday night when they host Marquette in the return match from their New Year’s Day loss in Milwaukee.”

For what it’s worth, Glockner also ranks Syracuse in this category, and Cincinnati, Georgetown, Providence and Notre Dame as “In The Mix.”

…I’m going to still place myself on the cautious side and agree with Glockner here…a win over Marquette tomorrow completely changes that though and throws Villanova into lock status…as far as the other teams are concerned, I have a really hard time seeing Notre Dame in the Tournament…I suppose they could go on a monster run to end the year but 7 in a row (despite a rough schedule) is almost unheard of from a tournament team…

Mark Schlabach of ESPN has posted this week’s ‘Bubble Watch’. Schlabach believes that 4 Big East teams are currently “locks” to make the Tourney, and I find it hard to argue. UConn is in the process of sewing up the #1 overall seed, Marquette is actually ahead of them in the Big East standings, and Pittsburgh and Louisville have had outstanding season thus far.

In the “should be in” category, Villanova and Syracuse make the cut. I’m in agreement again. While the Wildcats are approaching lock status (wins over ‘Cuse and Marquette and you can call them that), they still have some work to do, but they should be okay barring a total meltdown. The same goes for the Orange, who at 6-4 in the conference, have performed adequately and have a great OOC résumé .

In the work to do category, 4 Big East teams make the cut (Georgetown, Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Providence). Interestingly enough, Notre Dame is not mentioned at all. The Irish are definitely struggling, but you won’t convince me that they can’t get hot and sneak into the tourney.

Here’s what Schlabach wrote regarding Villanova’s NCAA Tournament chances:

“Villanova [18-4 (6-3), RPI: 10, SOS: 23] The Wildcats’ strong numbers suggest they should be a “lock” for an at-large bid, but their overall résumé leaves a little to be desired. Their 67-57 victory over Pittsburgh on Jan. 28 might go a long way in moving them off the bubble, but they accomplished little before then. They are only 2-4 against RPI top-50 teams, and only seven of their 18 victories against Division I teams have come against RPI top-100 opponents. Playing in the rugged Big East gives Villanova myriad opportunities to improve those areas — seven of their final nine regular-season opponents are RPI top-100 teams.”

…I agree with this assessment by Schlabach…all the stats look good, but I think they do need a couple more signature wins before we can call them a lock to make the Tourney…they’ll get a couple chances in the coming weeks…