What is Wins Above Bubble?
Wins Above Bubble counts results, not style. It compares your wins with a bubble team's expected wins. Same schedule, two different totals.
A resume score, in wins
WAB stands for Wins Above Bubble.
It scores what a team accomplished.
Each game adds one small value.
Values run from 1 to minus 1.
Those values add into one total.
Higher totals mean stronger resumes.
The bubble team is the bar
Picture an average bubble team.
Now hand it your schedule.
Count the wins it would average.
Beat that count, and WAB rises.
Fall short, and WAB drops below zero.
Meet the bubble teams it measures.
Results only, never style
Margin of victory never counts.
Efficiency never counts either.
Only the final result matters.
Winning hard games lifts the score.
The NET helps judge each opponent.
Read how NET rankings work.
Why the committee keeps it close
NCAA.org names two common computer metrics.
They are the NET and WAB.
The NET measures efficiency and strength.
WAB measures what actually happened.
Together they balance the team sheets.
No single metric decides a bid.
See who weighs them: the selection committee.
Five questions start it. You finish it.
Our picker opens on Selection Sunday, March 14, 2027. Five answers start your bracket. You can flip any pick. Free forever, no ads, no accounts.
Common questions
What is Wins Above Bubble?
Wins Above Bubble, or WAB, is a results-based metric that shows how many more or fewer wins a team earned than a bubble team would average against the same schedule. The NCAA committees use it beside the NET rankings.
What is the difference between WAB and NET?
The NET is a predictive metric based on efficiency and opponent strength. WAB is a results metric: it ignores margin and efficiency, and counts only what a team actually won against its schedule.
More bracket basics
- How to fill out a March Madness bracket
- What is a March Madness bracket?
- How does bracket scoring work?
- What is a Cinderella team?
- When is Selection Sunday 2027?
- How often do upsets happen?
- What is a seed in March Madness?
- How to pick upsets
- What is March Madness?
- Has anyone ever had a perfect bracket?
- Fill out a bracket if you know nothing about basketball
- What is the Final Four?
- How many teams are in March Madness?
- What is the opening round in March Madness?
- What is the Sweet 16?
- What is the Elite Eight?
- How many games are in March Madness?
- What is an automatic bid?
- What is an at-large bid?
- What is a bubble team?
- What is bracketology?
- How many rounds are in March Madness?
- What is the NIT?
- What is a conference tournament?
- What are NET rankings?
- What is a bid stealer?
- What is the selection committee?