College basketball coaches love to tell you how hard it is to beat a team three times in one season. On top of the basic difficulty of winning three given games, there’s the fact that familiarity breeds parity. Scouting becomes more informed, and therefore more nuanced. There are many reasons.

You know what’s even more difficult, though? Beating a top-10 team three times in a single season.

After an SEC quarterfinal victory over Florida, that’s exactly what Vanderbilt has done, if you use the RPI or KenPom rankings to judge top 10. And it’s exactly why the Commodores are headed to the NCAA tournament less than a month after seemingly slipping out of at-large contention with a loss at lowly Missouri.

Bryce Drew’s team blew an eight-point lead late in the second half in Nashville, but got a stop on the final possession of regulation to force overtime. Vanderbilt then took control in the extra session, sprinting out to an 11-point lead with a 12-1 run, and holding on for a 72-62 victory. Jeff Roberson’s emphatic and-one slam was the exclamation point, and might as well have punched Vandy’s ticket to the Big Dance:

The Commodores first beat the Gators (RPI No. 5, KenPom No. 5) on the road back in January after a four-game losing streak. They then capped off their regular season with a two-point win over the SEC’s second-best team at home. That win gave Vandy the 7-seed in the SEC tournament, and sent them to Bridgestone Arena needing a third upset over Florida to lock up an NCAA tournament bid.

It appeared to be a tall task, but not as tall for a club that is playing as well as any bubble team in the country at the moment. The Commodores have risen almost 30 spots in the KenPom rankings over the past few weeks, and looked like a tournament team. Now they have the résumé to match their level of play lately.

Vanderbilt’s fellow bubblers, however, didn’t fare so well. Friday began as a day of opportunity for many, but concluded as one of missed opportunity. Indiana, Georgia and TCU had chances to play themselves onto the bubble, but stumbled towards the NIT. Kansas State and California came up just short in win-and-in games, and will endure nerve-racking 48-hour waits.

At the end of a day that at one point looked like it might offer clarity, confusion and tough decisions for the selection committee have prevailed. Such is life on the 2016-17 NCAA tournament bubble.

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FRIDAY BUBBLE WINNERS

Vanderbilt (19-14, 10-8, KenPom 35, RPI 45): The Commodores now have three top-10 RPI wins. That they were all over the same team shouldn’t matter. They also have a win over surging Iowa State, and decent victories over Arkansas and South Carolina. It’s safe to say it definitively now: Vandy is in.

Rhode Island (22-9, 13-5, KenPom 52, RPI 45): The Rams eased to a 74-63 victory over St. Bonaventure, but the most interesting aspect of their day preceded their game. Dayton’s loss deprives Rhode Island of a chance for a quality win in the semis, but it also makes Rhode Island the favorite to advance to the final. Because a win over Davidson wouldn’t beef up the Rams’ résumé too much, an A-10 title might be their only route to the Big Dance.

VCU (25-7, 14-4, KenPom 51, RPI 21): The (other) Rams are almost surely in, especially after an A-10 quarterfinal win over George Mason. The repercussions of their win were felt elsewhere, though. Bubble teams need VCU to win the A-10 tournament. One win down, two to go.

Middle Tennessee State (29-4, 17-1, KenPom 48, RPI 36): The Blue Raiders blew past UTEP in the Conference USA semis to earn a berth in the conference tournament final. In the other semifinal, Marshall upset second-seeded Louisiana Tech. That, in one sense, is a positive for Middle Tennessee, because the top threat to snag their auto bid has been eliminated. In another sense, though, it’s risky, because a loss to Marshall would be more damaging than a loss to Louisiana Tech. The Blue Raiders should be in even with a loss Saturday, but erasing any doubt with a win would be advisable.

Alabama (19-13, 10-8, KenPom 58, RPI 78): ‘Bama isn’t an at-large contender. But it beat South Carolina in the SEC quarters, and is two wins away from an automatic bid. It gets top-seeded Kentucky in the semis on Saturday.

FRIDAY BUBBLE LOSERS

California (21-12, 10-8, KenPom 58, RPI 54): The Golden Bears came up just short against Oregon for the second time this season. Because they did, they’ll stroll into Selection Sunday without a win over a team that is definitely in the tournament. The best mark on their résumé is a Jan. 8 win over USC, a bubble team in its own right. With 21 wins in a major conference and against a not-horrible non-conference schedule, Cal is in the mix. But after a closer look at its résumé, the committee might — and probably should — choose to pass.

Kansas State (20-13, 8-10, KenPom 30, RPI 55): The Wildcats played one outstanding half of defense, holding West Virginia to 16 points, and went into halftime up nine. They showed the same tenacity and intensity they had on Thursday in a quarterfinal upset of Baylor. But the Mountaineers’ shooting regressed to the mean in a positive direction, and Kansas State’s offense stalled down the stretch — two points over the game’s final five minutes — and cost Bruce Weber’s team the game. A win would have pushed the Wildcats off the bubble and into the field; a loss keeps them right on it. They’ll be the subject of heated discussions between now and Sunday evening.

Xavier (21-13, 9-9, KenPom 39, RPI 31): Xavier is in a better spot than Cal and Kansas State, but it could be in for an agonizing wait after Creighton’s Marcus Foster beat it with a late 3-pointer in Friday’s second Big East semifinal:

Xavier’s overall résumé appears to be sufficient, but trouble could arise if the committee chooses to heavily weight the post-Edmond Sumner injury portion of Xavier’s season. Since Sumner went down, the Musketeers are 6-7, with three of the six wins over DePaul. Chris Mack and Xavier fans will point to wins at Creighton and over Butler at a neutral site. The committee probably will too. But there are no guarantees.

Indiana (18-15, 7-11, KenPom 39, RPI 77): Some people might look at the Hoosiers’ résumé, see the wins over Kansas and North Carolina, and make the argument that they should be in. After a quarterfinal loss to Wisconsin at the Big Ten tournament, though, that’s not a very compelling argument. Indiana is headed to the NIT.

TCU (19-15, 6-12, KenPom 36, RPI 64): The Horned Frogs followed up Thursday’s upset of Kansas with a semifinal clunker against Iowa State. The result was more about the Cyclones’ sizzling shooting than anything TCU did poorly, but nonetheless, it almost certainly knocks Jamie Dixon’s team out of tournament contention.

Michigan State (19-14, 10-8, KenPom 45, RPI 49): The Spartans are by no means an NCAA tournament lock after a Big Ten quarterfinal loss to Minnesota. Their best wins — over the Gophers (twice) and at home over Wisconsin — are balanced out by some damaging losses — Northeastern, at Penn State. They’re 9-12 against the RPI top 100, and don’t have overly impressive computer numbers. Tom Izzo, for the first time in a long time, will be on the edge of his seat on Selection Sunday.

Georgia (19-14, 9-9, KenPom 55, RPI 51): The Bulldogs got their shot at Kentucky, but didn’t have enough to overcome the Wildcats. Unless the committee sees something in Georgia that the rest of us aren’t seeing, Mark Fox’s team is NIT-bound.

THURSDAY

A day of quarterfinals and early-round conference tournament games featured more good than bad for fringe tournament teams. Winners included TCU, Kansas State, Xavier and Cal. Losers included Providence, Iowa and Indiana. Here’s a full breakdown of Thursday’s bubble action.