The month of March is what many consider to be the craziest month on the sports calendar, especially with the big dance looming. When it comes to the Cajuns though, the madness has already started and a lot of that is because they split their two games in the state of Texas. Because of that, they are currently locked in a three-way tie for fifth place and a game and a half out from getting the fourth seed. After the tough road trip to the Carolinas just a few weeks ago, it felt like the chances of punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament started to close.
With four games left in the regular season, the Cajuns have every chance of making their lot in life in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament a lot better. No one wants to come from the back of the proverbial bus and try and win FIVE straight games and the way the Cajuns have played in conference, I personally don’t like those odds. The best way to cash that ticket is to at least get one bye in the conference tournament and that is pretty reasonable. Would it be great to see the Cajuns leapfrog up to the #2 seed? Of course, but that’s highly unlikely because you’d need Georgia State, Georgia Southern, and UT Arlington to lose out.
Now when it comes to getting that #4 seed, we can start talking about something that’s a lot more feasible. The Cajuns will have quite the challenge in their next two games on tap being at home against Coastal Carolina and App State, two teams they lost to in embarrassing fashion on the road. Thursday night’s game is going to be absolutely crucial for this team because it’ll break up the tie for the fifth seed, meaning that a loss on Thursday could send them tumbling down to as low as the seventh seed. This is the game that could seal this team’s fate when it comes to locking down that coveted #4 seed. After this weekend, the Cajuns will head up to Arkansas and will look for some revenge against a Little Rock team that came out of the Cajundome with a win to open conference play.
All this being said, the Cajuns have to win at least three of their last four and UT Arlington needs to lose at least one game and that’ll be easier than you think with the regular season finale being against the Bobcats of Texas State. With everything I’ve seen from the Cajuns once conference play started, they need all the help they can get to try and get back to the big dance for the first time since the 2013-14 season.