Martin O'Malley could miss the cut for January's NBC News-YouTube Democratic debate as a higher polling threshold could cut the field to just two.

The new criteria for the Jan. 17 debate stipulate that candidates must poll at an average of at least 5 percent in national polls or in the polls in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina. The network will consider the five most recent qualifying surveys released before Jan. 14 in those averages.

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That puts O'Malley on the bubble. If polling halted on Friday, he would just make the cut with an average of exactly 5 percent in the five most recent qualifying polls in Iowa. If he averages at that clip or above in polls released in the next six days, he'll make the cut. But if he dips below, he'll be sidelined for the last debate before the Iowa caucuses.

This story was last updated at 6:52 p.m.