It's crunch time on college basketball's bubble for Providence, and coach Ed Cooley wouldn't have it any other way.
Only a month ago the Friars were bobbing along with a 14-11 record and just 4-8 in the Big East. At that point hanging on for a berth in any postseason tournament looked to be a hefty challenge.
But then things began to break in the Friars' favor. Injuries to Edmund Sumner (Xavier) and Maurice Watson (Creighton) opened the door for PC and other Big East teams to make a run to the top of the conference. It was an opportunity the Friars seized and now, riding a five-game winning streak, a berth in the NCAA Tournament is a reachable goal.
The Friars play their regular-season finale Saturday at Madison Square Garden against St. John's. PC (19-11) is 9-8 in the Big East and a win today would not only be their 20th of the season but could wrap up an NCAA berth ahead of next week's Big East Tournament. A loss to St. John's (13-17, 7-10) would be the second this season to the Red Storm and complicate the postseason puzzle significantly.
"Our goal was not to get swept by a [Big East] opponent," Cooley said after a win over DePaul on Wednesday. "Villanova snuck in here and got us but now we have an opportunity up in [Madison Square] Garden. We're comfortable in the Garden, we play well in the Garden. We've played well there basically the last four years."
Providence has a r?sum? that has both pluses and minuses. Here's a look at the Friars and other teams they'll be competing with for NCAA tourney bids.
PC, Seton Hall and Marquette are all 9-8 heading into the final day of the regular season and look very much alike in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee. Getting to 10 wins would be helpful and PC faces the easiest task with the Pirates at Butler and the Golden Eagles hosting Creighton.
PC swept Marquette and split with Seton Hall, and is the only one of the three to beat Butler. The Friars (RPI 55), Pirates (49) and Golden Eagles (59) are basically a push in the RPI and almost certainly two of the three will face one another in the Big East tourney quarterfinals next Thursday.
Xavier carries a 8-9 Big East record into Saturday's finale at DePaul and will play the Demons again Wednesday in New York. But a team once ranked as high as No. 7 and still in the polls on Feb. 6 will be one of the more discussed teams in the country due to its current six-game losing streak. Xavier still has an RPI of 32 but since losing Sumner is 4-7 and isn't playing like a tourney-worthy team.
Missouri Valley. This year the committee will be faced with several stark choices pitting teams like Marquette, Wake Forest and Michigan that have some excellent wins and lots of losses against a Wichita State (27-4, RPI 40, two top-100 wins) or Illinois State (25-5, RPI 31, two top-100 wins). One of those two (or both) won't win the Valley's automatic bid and will be weighed against the rest of the at-large pool.
It would also help the Friars and URI if UNC Wilmington (Colonial), Middle Tennessee (Conference USA), Texas-Arlington (Sun Belt) and Monmouth (MAAC) all win their conference tournaments.
PC and URI fans can circle a few other bubble teams and root for them to lose over both this weekend and early in their conference tournament. California (19-10, RPI 54) got things off to a nice start Thursday by getting blown out at Utah. Other teams include Vanderbilt (16-14, at Florida Saturday), Illinois (18-12, at Rutgers), Wake Forest (17-12, at Virginia Tech) and Syracuse (17-13, vs. Ga. Tech).
Only a month ago the Friars were bobbing along with a 14-11 record and just 4-8 in the Big East. At that point hanging on for a berth in any postseason tournament looked to be a hefty challenge.
But then things began to break in the Friars' favor. Injuries to Edmund Sumner (Xavier) and Maurice Watson (Creighton) opened the door for PC and other Big East teams to make a run to the top of the conference. It was an opportunity the Friars seized and now, riding a five-game winning streak, a berth in the NCAA Tournament is a reachable goal.
The Friars play their regular-season finale Saturday at Madison Square Garden against St. John's. PC (19-11) is 9-8 in the Big East and a win today would not only be their 20th of the season but could wrap up an NCAA berth ahead of next week's Big East Tournament. A loss to St. John's (13-17, 7-10) would be the second this season to the Red Storm and complicate the postseason puzzle significantly.
"Our goal was not to get swept by a [Big East] opponent," Cooley said after a win over DePaul on Wednesday. "Villanova snuck in here and got us but now we have an opportunity up in [Madison Square] Garden. We're comfortable in the Garden, we play well in the Garden. We've played well there basically the last four years."
Providence has a r?sum? that has both pluses and minuses. Here's a look at the Friars and other teams they'll be competing with for NCAA tourney bids.
PC, Seton Hall and Marquette are all 9-8 heading into the final day of the regular season and look very much alike in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee. Getting to 10 wins would be helpful and PC faces the easiest task with the Pirates at Butler and the Golden Eagles hosting Creighton.
PC swept Marquette and split with Seton Hall, and is the only one of the three to beat Butler. The Friars (RPI 55), Pirates (49) and Golden Eagles (59) are basically a push in the RPI and almost certainly two of the three will face one another in the Big East tourney quarterfinals next Thursday.
Xavier carries a 8-9 Big East record into Saturday's finale at DePaul and will play the Demons again Wednesday in New York. But a team once ranked as high as No. 7 and still in the polls on Feb. 6 will be one of the more discussed teams in the country due to its current six-game losing streak. Xavier still has an RPI of 32 but since losing Sumner is 4-7 and isn't playing like a tourney-worthy team.
Missouri Valley. This year the committee will be faced with several stark choices pitting teams like Marquette, Wake Forest and Michigan that have some excellent wins and lots of losses against a Wichita State (27-4, RPI 40, two top-100 wins) or Illinois State (25-5, RPI 31, two top-100 wins). One of those two (or both) won't win the Valley's automatic bid and will be weighed against the rest of the at-large pool.
It would also help the Friars and URI if UNC Wilmington (Colonial), Middle Tennessee (Conference USA), Texas-Arlington (Sun Belt) and Monmouth (MAAC) all win their conference tournaments.
PC and URI fans can circle a few other bubble teams and root for them to lose over both this weekend and early in their conference tournament. California (19-10, RPI 54) got things off to a nice start Thursday by getting blown out at Utah. Other teams include Vanderbilt (16-14, at Florida Saturday), Illinois (18-12, at Rutgers), Wake Forest (17-12, at Virginia Tech) and Syracuse (17-13, vs. Ga. Tech).
