Basketball - Wildcats Need To Win Two More Games To M

Coach Jay Wright talks to his team, the Wildcats, about everything to do with basketball from scouting reports to grades to schedules. The one topic that he does not broach or address is how many games do the Wildcats need to win to make it to the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats are at 19-9 at the moment.

There are just two games left in the regular season before the conference tournament begins and the Wildcats are well poised to earn a spot for the NCAA tournament. Presently the Wildcats are tied for the ninth spot with Providence in the Big East standings but are ranked 21st in the RPI and 5th in strength of schedule. In addition, Wildcats have had three wins over top 25 teams and have a recently success history in NCAA.

However, the path to NCAA tournament is not so easy and they have to play two teams that have given them headaches recently. They have to play Connecticut and Syracuse and if they lose, the possibility of entering the NCAA would become remote.

If the regular season were to end today, the Wildcats would be seeded eighth or ninth. However, if they win the two games against Connecticut and Syracuse, they get their seeding up by one or two spots. 

However, for the moment coach Wright is not thinking about this. He does not want to dwell on how far the Wildcats can go and what they have to do in order to win. He just wants the Wildcats to focus on the game against the Huskies. The Huskies have to win the Big East tourney to make it to the NCAAs.

Last season the Wildcats and Huskies did not have to worry about the selection process because they shared the Big East title. The Wildcats had defeated Huskies at the Wachovia Center and then the Huskies defeated them at Gampel Pavilion.