USF basketball team finds itself on the bubble, and that's good

TAMPA -- "That might not have been too pretty to watch from the stands."

That was South Florida men's basketball coach Stan Heath.

Well, right now it doesn't matter if it's pretty.

That's a good thing.

The South Florida men's basketball team beat Cincinnati 65-57 Tuesday night at the Sun Dome. Cincinnati was awful. It had just 33 points with six minutes left. No wonder Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun nearly had a relapse when his Huskies lost to Cincinnati for the second time this season.

But back to USF, and you have to keep coming back, because the Bulls are in the mix, the discussion, the "Are They In or Are They Out?" that starts bubbling up this time of college basketball season. For th first time in forever, USF is part of the NCAA Tournament talk, though on the fringes. But fringe beats nothing.

Tuesday, the Bulls snapped a two-game losing streak, losses at Notre Dame and Marqutte, and improved to 16-9 overall, 6-7 in the Big East. The didn't exactly conjure memories of those four conference wins in a row, including that upset of Pitt and that stunner at Georgetown, but back on track is back on track, and that's all that matters for now.

"We didn't handle it very well after we won those four games in a row," Heath said. "I think we let our guard down, we didn't have that extra edge we had before ... We stopped thinking we'd arrived, because we really haven't done anything yet."

That people are even talking about USF basketball in mid-February is an accomplishment for this program. Heath hears the gab wherever he goes these days.

"It's special. We even had a guy call today saying he'd had season tickets for 11 seasons, but he gave them up this year, but now he wants his tickets back," he said.

There were 6,607 fans at the Sun Dome on Tuesday. That's about 2,000 more than earlier in the season, and the game was carried by ESPNU. Bulls shooting star Dominque Jones (another 26 points Tuesday) is getting used to all the new faces.

"I've been here for two years, and there have been times when you come out here to play someone and the only people you see in the stands are family," Jones said.

It's all about a different kind of math at this point, and Jones and his teammates know it.

Will the wins add up?

Will this math mean the NIT, which would be nice, or the bigger dance, would be the moon shot.

I'm thinking NIT, which might be a lock.

The NCAA Tournament will be a tougher road, much tougher. But it can be done.

Take a look at the Big East, the best conference in the country, though the Big 12 might have an argument.

OK, Lousivlle will make it in with a few more wins, thanks to their great RPI.

Then it gets wild.

There's USF, and Marquette, and Notre Dame, and Cincinnati, and Seton Hall, and UConnn' They're all in the mix -- and USF is 2-4 combined against those schools. Problem.

But the Bulls have a shot. Only they can't miss a trick.

Tuesday, USF couldn't afford another loss to Cincy, since Cincy also entered 15-9 and with a slightly higher RPI.

The Bulls took care of business. There is more work to do.

USF has five games left in the regular season - home to St. John's, at Villanova, home to Providence, at DePaul and the finale at home against UConn.

A 4-1 finish means a 20-win season and a 10-8 mark in the Big East, and then throw in a win in the Big East Tournament, and the Bulls just might dance. Go 3-2, but with a win at powerhouse Villanova, and it still might work. Go 3-2 any other way, and it will probably take two wins in the Big East

Tournament, no small thing since the Bulls have never won any games in the Big East Tournament.

Oh, yes, there is that.

USF has quality wins over Pittsburgh and Georgetown.

They need to beat St. John's and Providence and win at DePaul.

Period.

It might come down to the UConn game at the Sun Dome on March 6.

It just might.

There will still be more work at Madison Square Garden.

"It's great to be in the discussion, but that's all it is," Heath said. "A week ago, we were probably in, right now, we're probably out.

"I believe a winning record in this league should get you in. You're 10-8, you should get in, Mathematically, we still have a chance [at 10-8]. At 9-9, we'd still have some work. We don't want to take that chance. Nobody should want to take that chance."

I'm betting on 3-2, whch means the Bulls would need a real run in New York.

In other words, I'm betting NIT.

But the talk is the thing.

"We're part of it," Heath said.

That they are.