Arizona women's basketball squarely on NCAA Tournament bubble

Arizona was the fourth team out in the updated ESPN Bracketology by Charlie Creme of ESPN on Wednesday. Washington is listed as the first team out by Creme, followed by Princeton and Georgia Mason. Arizona defeated Arizona State 66-59 on Saturday afternoon at McKale Center.

Arizona is currently 59th in the NCAA Women's Net Ratings. Creme has Virginia Tech as his last team in the projected NCAA Tournament. Virginia Tech is 46th in the NCAA Net Ratings. Arizona has a huge opportunity in its next two games. Oklahoma State hosts Arizona with a 5:30 PM Mountain time tip-off on Wednesday night.

Autumn Johnson of NCAA.Com projects Arizona as her last team in the NCAA Tournament. Johnson has Arizona playing in the First Four for the second straight season. Harvard is Johnson's third to last team in the NCAA Tournament and Arizona's First Four opponent. Johnson projects the Arizona-Harvard winner to play West Virginia.

An Arizona win would set up an All-Big XII matchup in the first round. The Wildcats beat the then-16th-ranked Mountainers 77-62 at McKale Center last month. Arizona's win over West Virginia is the Wildcats' only quad-one victory this season. Johnson projects the winner of those three to play the winner of Grand Canyon and Kentucky.

Oklahoma State is 20th in the Associated Press Top 25 and 28th in the NET Ratings. Arizona has a chance to improve its 1-4 record against quad-one opponents this season with wins over Oklahoma State and TCU. TCU is at Arizona on Sunday, with the game scheduled to start at 2:00 PM MT. TCU is ranked 11th nationally and 9th in the NET Ratings.

Creme projects Oklahoma State as a seventh seed and TCU as a third seed, hosting the first two rounds in the NCAA Tournament. Johnson projects TCU as the three-seed and Oklahoma State as a six. Oklahoma State and TCU are the last opportunities in the regular season for Arizona to earn statement wins.