UC takes care of Pine Bluff by 30 tonight. That puts them at 10-2 heading into the Memphis game. Regardless if UC wins or loses, I think most of us would have been happy at the beginning of the season if we put up 10 wins in the non-conference schedule. If we can go down to Memphis and beat them, 11 wins will be even sweeter.
I've taken a peek at what it might take for UC to land in the NCAA, and I think 11 is the magic number in the Big East ... or 10 in the Big East + Memphis.
Right now I'm looking at 11 Big East wins (regular season + conference tournament) for UC to punch their NCAA ticket. This basically means we're looking at UC going 10-8 in the Big East regular season and then winning at least one Big East conference tourney game or going 11-7 in the regular season. The other scenario that would put UC in nice NCAA position is 10 Big East wins and a win in Memphis to help the non-conference record.
If UC loses to Memphis and has 10 Big East wins, they'd be squarely on the bubble (10 regular season Big East wins and 0 conference tourney wins or 9 regular season wins and 1 conference tourney win). If they beat Memphis and have 9 Big East wins, I also think they're squarely on the bubble (though more than likely on the outside looking in with this scenario because the committee doesn't like a sub .500 conference record).
If they have 8 or fewer Big East wins, then they're NIT bound at best regardless of what happens in Memphis.
Either way, let's play well next Monday night in Memphis and try to grab a win and then let's carry some momentum into Big East play.