NCAA Tournament Tracker: 2-0 Week Cracks NCAA Tournament Door Back Open For Cincinnati Basketball

Have to keep stacking wins down the stretch.

Feb 8, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jizzle James (2) reacts after a play against the Brigham Young Cougars in the second half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — A 2-0 week in conference play has Cincinnati still clinging to a remote chance of making the NCAA Tournament as an at-large entry.

The Bearcats are 14-9 on the season and now hold a 9.6% chance to earn a bid according to Bart Torvik. There is obviously still a ton of work to do, but the paired wins have at least kept the dream alive of making the tournament for the first time this decade.

Cincinnati has plenty of big-win chances left, but two or more losses the rest of the way could be the death blow. Four Quad 1 games remain (@ Iowa State, @ West Virginia, V. Baylor, @ Houston) and UC needs to win three of those, plus all four other Q2 and Q3 games to make a strong case for inclusion.

If not, a 6-2 finish with three conference tournament wins should be enough to get them in. Still, this team has never won three Big 12 games in a row, let alone three in three days during that structure, so it's a lot to ask. Next up is a must-win Q2 matchup at home against Utah on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.

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