ESPN Men's Basketball

One of the most difficult tasks facing the selection committee is to assess how the absence of a player has affected a team in consideration. Just like every other year, there are plenty of cases in which bubble teams have been impacted by the loss or return of someone at some point in the season.

A couple of these cases are more interesting than the others because they involve teams right on the edge of making the NCAA Tournament field. One is Cincinnati, where Armein Kirkland saw his season end with an injury halfway through the season. The other is Bradley, which couldn't suit up Patrick O'Bryant for the first eight games because of an NCAA suspension.

We can't be sure exactly how the committee will evaluate each of these situations, but here is my own evaluation of how the absence of each player has impacted his respective team.

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