Monday tip-off: Huge tests for bubble teams Pittsburgh, Seton Hall

Best Bets: A couple of teams currently projected to fall on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble, one current and one former member of the Big East Conference, have huge opportunities to get closer to the correct side tonight. All they have to do is beat a No. 1 seed contender on the road — piece of cake.

One of them, Pittsburgh, appears to be on an upward trajectory. The Panthers evened their Atlantic Coast Conference record with a win against North Carolina on Saturday, giving them another résumé boost to go along with their triumph over Notre Dame two weeks ago. They'll go for an even bigger prize at No. 3 Virginia (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).

The Cavaliers, still employing their stingy man defense, have held serve since a hand injury sidelined leading scorer Justin Anderson. But they needed a late stop to escape Wake Forest on Saturday. Pitt, however, figures to find open shots from the perimeter more difficult to come by after knocking down eight treys against the Tar Heels in their more friendly home environs.

The direction for Seton Hall, on the other hand, has been downward. The Pirates have dropped four in a row since the calendar turned to February and slipped to 5-8 in the Big East. They can consider their ship righted with a win at No. 6 Villanova (7 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1). Though that's a major challenge, Seton Hall does have one of the league's more explosive scorers in G Sterling Gibbs, who has a 40-point game to his credit this season. But the Wildcats have a lot more options on offense, and they generate 3.5 more turnovers a game than they commit.

Number of the day: 19. February has also not been kind to No. 20 West Virginia, who likely will not have a number before its name by the time the Mountaineers take the court tonight against No. 9 Kansas (9 p.m. ET, ESPN). WVU has gone 1-3 in the month, with only a four-point escape against Kansas State to show for its efforts. The three losses by an average of 19 points have all come against other ranked Big 12 teams, but that doesn't bode well with the league-leading Jayhawks coming to Morgantown.

Days until Selection Sunday: 27.