Interesting case, the Memphis Tigers.

Some sharpies out there look at John Calipari's bunch and see a potential NCAA Sweet 16 team. And some computers out there look at the Tigers at see an NIT team.

You can't make noise in the Big Dance if you're not invited, which is the potential sticking point with Memphis. The RPI has little love for the Tigers, ranking them a tepid 59th despite their 21 wins.

	Believe it or not, Dajuan Wagner and Memphis may not have the numbers to receive an at-large bid -- yet.

Memphis can seemingly end the argument with a victory at Cincinnati to close the regular season Sunday -- but if the Tigers lose, they could head into the conference tournament feeling anxious. ESPN.com's Bracketology has Memphis among the last four in and gives it a tenuous No. 12 seed. The latest bracket guess posted at CollegeRPI.com excludes the Tigers.

A chronically low RPI has been a source of unending irritation for Calipari. At one point a few weeks ago, he lovingly referred to the RPI as "full of crap," and alleged that the powerhouse conferences didn't want Conference USA schools in the tournament.

He's toned down the rhetoric since then -- especially now that Memphis has rebounded from a startling three-game losing streak to make its point for residence in Bracketville. The Tigers' subsequent two-game winnning streak has given Calipari a new lobbying stance.

"It's obvious we are a different team with Kelly Wise," Calipari has said often of late.

The proof was in the pudding in a huge Memphis win at South Florida. Senior center Kelly Wise, a double-double waiting to happen, played 37 minutes with a strained knee in leading the Tigers to a 71-59 win.

That came after he missed the two most puzzling losses in that three-game streak: an 18-point whipping at UAB and a home loss to Houston. Wise played just 15 minutes and scored two points in the other loss, at Charlotte.

So leave no doubt that Memphis will make mention of the fact that its record is 21-5 with Wise in the lineup, 0-2 without him. Since the selection committee takes injuries into consideration, that's as strong an argument as the Tigers can make.

"They (the selection committee) should look at this and say, 'Coach, you are not the same team without Kelly Wise,'" Calipari told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "I will look them right back in the eye and say, 'You are absolutely right. Guess what? He's back.'"

Now the only thing missing is quality wins.

The Tigers have dominated the National Division of Conference USA, which is a bit like dominating the Cuban luge circuit. Memphis is 59th, South Florida 61st and Houston 94th in the RPI. Everyone else in that division is in triple digits, helping drag the Tigers' strength of schedule down to 134th.

Fact is, Memphis hasn't beaten anyone currently in the RPI top 60. It has only played four teams ranked that high and lost them all by an average of 11 points. Its best wins to date are a sweep of South Florida -- a team which hasn't beaten a team in the RPI top 80 since its non-conference wins over Cal and Pitt.

Here's a scenario to watch: Should Arkansas close with any kind of run and be excluded from the tournament at the expense of Memphis, you might hear some angry hog-calling (and we're not talking about another Nolan Richardson eruption). After all, Arkansas went into The Pyramid in early January and spanked the Tigers by 17.

All of this only makes the C-USA finale against the Bearcats that much bigger. The league scheduled that game to close the season figuring it might be a showdown of the top two teams, and it wasn't far off. (Marquette has something to say about that, despite the shocking loss at East Carolina Tuesday night.)

Now the question is whether Memphis is up for the intimidating challenge that is Cincinnati.

"Playing them in Cincinnati is like going to a new school, and you walking the door and the first guy that walks up to you asks for your lunch money," Calipari said. "Now if you give up your lunch money, you're going to be giving it up every day. If you say well, 'I'll carry my lunch,' the guys says, 'Well, what are we eating today?'

"So you've got to dig in your heels. You've got no choice. And they will physically come after you, and you've got to be willing to play that way and take the bumps and the grinds and still play through it."

Win that game and Memphis can pretty much guarantee lunch at the NCAA buffet. A loss and the Tigers are still in danger of winding up at the NIT childrens' table.

Games of the Week

Florida at Kentucky Saturday Big SEC finale will help decide who wins the Eastern Division and who has to play on the first day of the league tournament. Gators and Wildcats have split the previous three years, but Kentucky got a leg up by winning in Gainesville in January -- its last truly impressive performance. Memphis at Cincinnati Sunday Calipari vs. Huggins -- not exactly a matchup of dear friends. Winner crows. Loser is one unhappy camper. OVC Tournament final Saturday Jeff Lebo's Tennessee Tech team has dominated the league all season but that guarantees nothing in terms of the NCAA Tournament. Tech could wind up facing traditional power Murray State or Kyle Macy's surprising Morehead State team in the championship game.

SEC's Bubble Boys
The Southeastern Conference appears to have a pretty solid six teams in the dance. The January and early February talk of a seventh team has died down, as a trio of contenders have failed to seize the opportunity.

Arkanasas (41 RPI), Vanderbilt (47) and South Carolina (52) all have RPIs that merit consideration -- but they also have losing league records, a major factor with the selection committee. Mississippi's RPI is two spots lower than Arkansas', but the Rebels are 8-6 in SEC play and beat the Razorbacks twice, making them a much stronger candidate.

All three would appear to need some combination of big wins this week and a couple more in the SEC tournament to crash the party next month.

South Carolina could get to .500 in league play by winning at Georgia and at home against Mississippi State. Two beartbreaking one-point losses might be the only thing separating the Gamecocks from the tournament: a late Cliff Hawkins jumper got Kentucky past them in January, and Alabama came from 15 points down to do it this month, as neither team scored in the final four minutes.

At 5-9, Vandy and Arkansas would seem to have more work to do. They play each other in Fayetteville on March 2 in what could well be the final elimination game for the loser.

New Deal for Felton
Western Kentucky coach Dennis Felton doesn't think his 25-3 team needs to win the Sun Belt Conference tournament for a bid, and he's probably right. Felton's spectacular work in Bowling Green prompted the athletic director Wood Selig to present Felton a new seven-year contract worth about $400,000 per year last week, in hopes of keeping the talented young coach.

"This is really the culmination of four years of hard work and effort," Selig said upon announcing the deal, which has been agreed to but not yet signed. "You do not want a hiccup. You want to keep the continuity going.

"Whenever I hear Dick Vitale talking about Dennis Felton as the next great up-and-coming coach, it sent a shiver down my spine."

In truth, this contract will not keep Selig shiver-proof. It contains a $200,000 buyout that includes a clause calling for the school that steals Felton to play Western home-and-home -- but that won't be enough to stop a big-time program.

"If a big fish comes along with a seven-year, $7 million contract, we know what's going to happen," Selig said. "What we wanted to do was eliminate that intermediate step: Conference USA, the Atlantic 10. We wanted to eliminate the competition up to the top 20, 30, 40 programs."

For his part, Felton has enjoyed the resurgence at Western, which has led to routine sellouts of venerable 8,000-seat E.A. Diddle Arena.

"There's SEC schools that play in front of graveyards," Felton said. "I've always said I could not do that. I could not be at a place where nobody cares and you're playing in front of empty gyms. I hate that."

Around the South