The NCAA basketball season concluded Monday night (in epic fashion, I might add), with the final game of a four week tournament to determine the best team in the land.

The tournament selection process for college basketball is unique in that a selection committee pairs the teams subjectively against one another. Some places are secured by the merit of a conference championship while others are categorized as “at large” bids.

The tournament selection committee spends countless hours, and likely coin flips choosing teams and matchups for the tournament. Undoubtedly there is some consideration given to the quality of a game, or a back story, or any type of human interest pairing that will draw viewers to the television. There are always teams that qualify for the field that may not deserve it, while the teams that didn’t make the cut are left to rue their imminent phone call from the NIT tournament officials.

These bubble teams have only themselves to thank or blame for the fate of their school. That game back in November that they should have won will haunt them in March when their name isn’t called. In the NHL, the “bubble teams” are the ones who occupy the bottom two playoff spots and the two spots below them. They control their own destiny by winning games. Of course there are many other variables besides just winning, but excuses for missing the postseason will more likely than not result in a pink slip to the coach, general manager or both.

In the Eastern Conference, the log jam at the bottom of the playoff picture includes the Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Winnipeg Jets and New Jersey Devils. Though Winnipeg is currently sitting in ninth place with the same number of points as eighth place New York (Rangers), they have the benefit of sitting only two points behind division leading Washington.

The Jets only have one game left against the Capitals (April 23rd at Washington), but have four of their remaining seven games against teams that won’t be making any playoff plans.

Last year’s conference champions, New Jersey are also resting precariously on the playoff bubble. They have lost seven games in a row and finish the season with seven of their last nine games against teams currently above them in the standings. If Winnipeg and New Jersey want to avoid the golf course in early May, they’ll have to win almost all of their remaining games and get some help from other teams.

Out in the Western Conference the picture looks about the same. The bottleneck at the bottom of the standings includes the St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets. Dallas, fresh off of Tuesday night's thumping of the fourth place Los Angeles Kings sits two points behind Detroit for the final playoff spot. They will play five of their remaining nine games on the road, seven against teams that sit above them in the playoff hunt. They may also have to do it with their backup goaltender. Kari Lehtonen left last night’s game with an undisclosed lower-body injury.

The Columbus Blue Jackets believe they belong in the playoffs and are playing some great hockey at the right time of the year. Sergei Bobrovsky pitched another shutout last night at home against San Jose to bring Columbus even with Dallas at 41 points. Marian Gaborik has provided immediate dividends to the Blue Jackets and their playoff dreams. Dallas and Detroit each have a game in hand against Columbus, which will hit the road for six of their final eight games. Of those six road games, five are against current playoff teams. Columbus has to win, but they also need some help.

The road to the Stanley Cup Playoffs is almost as much of a grind as the playoffs themselves become. There will be no selection committee or conference tournament to award an automatic bid. The teams that will compete in the NHL playoffs will do so on the merit of their own play. The one advantage to the abbreviated schedule is that all games are against conference opponents. For teams looking to make a move up the standings, they will literally have a chance to win their way into the post season.