With just four games left in its regular season, the UCF men’s basketball team (19-7, 8-4 C-USA) has already equaled their regular season win total from a year ago and notched two more conference wins than they had all of last season.
Despite the strong record and some noteworthy victories, UCF still has a lot of work to do before it can be considered a successful season.
The Knights know they have one huge test before them if they going are going to make any noise in the postseason and receive a possible bid to the NCAA Tournament: The Conference-USA Tournament.
“We’re thinking about the conference tournament, but we’re trying to take it one game at a time because we can still finish great in our conference,” junior forward Keith Clanton said. “We want to finish good in our conference, and then we’ll focus on the conference tournament when it comes around.”
Currently, the Knights sit in fourth place in C-USA, only a half game behind Tulsa (9-4 C-USA) and one game back from first-place Memphis and Southern Miss, both 9-3 in the conference.
Despite being just a game back for the top spot, the only team that the Knights face from the field that sits in front of them in the standings is the Tigers, who they will meet in Memphis on Feb. 28 in what will shape up to be a crucial game for the Knights.
UCF lost to Tulsa back in January, was swept by the Golden Eagles this season, and defeated the Tigers in a thriller at the UCF Arena.
Fortunately for the Knights, if they hold on to their current position, they will receive a first round bye in conference tournament.
UCF has never advanced past the second round of the Conference-USA tournament since joining the league, but this is arguably one of the most talented and deepest Knights teams in program history.
With one more win, the Knights will record their second straight 20-win season and just seventh in school history.
The next four games will have a lot of impact in determining just how far UCF goes this season.
That starts this Wednesday when the Knights will be looking for their fifth win in six contests in a matchup against Rice on the road at 9 p.m.
Although the Knights have accomplished a lot this year, making an NCAA Tournament appearance is their ultimate goal, and that goal is still attainable if they take care of business.
“I feel like we have a good enough resume (to make the Big Dance), but we probably still need to win a couple more games to show the NCAA that we can really play with anybody,” Clanton said.
