Jerry Palm made his first attempt at projecting the NCAA Tournament field on his CollegeRPI.com Web site earlier in the week. He did not include the University of Cincinnati. And that was before the Bearcats' 63-54 home loss to Louisville on Wednesday night.

        “Cincinnati hasn't made any kind of statement yet that they're ready to play in this (NCAA) tournament,” Palm said Thursday. “Their RPI, to me, was inflated, because they haven't played anybody truly awful.”

        Said UC junior Jamaal Davis: “I think it's a little early to pick. As a player, I wouldn't count us out.”

        UC, which finished No.1 in the 1999-2000 Ratings Percentage Index, is riding a two-game losing streak and plays host to ninth-ranked Wake Forest on Saturday in the team's only game against an opponent in the RPI's top 25.

        The Demon Deacons (14-4, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) are No.14 in the RPI. They are the second-highest ranked team by the Associated Press to face UC in Shoemaker; Massachusetts was No.8 in 1993-94.

        The Bearcats (12-6) have never lost two straight in Shoemaker.

        “Wake Forest is their last chance to really make an impression against a team that's a real tournament team,” Palm said. “If they really want to make their case for an at-large bid, they can all but sew one up Saturday, provided they take care of business afterward.”

        Following Wednesday night's defeat, the Bearcats dropped to No.30 from No.23 in the RPI. Palm, a 1985 Purdue graduate, has Cincinnati going to the National Invitation Tournament. For now.

        His reasoning? UC is 1-2 against top-50 RPI teams and 4-5 against the top 100. Its only so-called quality victory, he said, is over Alabama (46).

        “The Selection Committee wants to see teams do well against good competition,” Palm said. “That Alabama win may look better in six weeks than it does now. That's a team that's ranked and they're way down in the RPI because their non-conference schedule was just brutal. As they go through the SEC, if they continue to play up to their ranking, their RPI might catch up. Cincinnati should be rooting for Alabama.”

        “It feels kind of funny,” UC sophomore Leonard Stokes said of possibly not being picked for the NCAA. “A lot of us came to this school because we wanted to win.”

        The Bearcats' remaining schedule doesn't allow much of a chance to wow the NCAA Selection Committee. The best of the rest: Southern Mississippi (42) and South Florida (48).

        “Our schedule was set up so that it gave us every opportunity not just to get in, but get a good seed,” UC coach Bob Huggins said. “Now it's just a matter of winning games.”

        This is Palm's eighth year of computing the RPI. UC never has finished out of its top 25. The Bearcats have gone to the NCAA Tournament nine straight years, with their lowest seed a No.8 in 1994.

        Palm doesn't believe reputation and tradition will help any team when NCAA at-large berths are awarded. He also doesn't think that right now there is a magic number for the Bearcats.

        He said, however, they must beat teams such as Charlotte, DePaul, Memphis, Marquette, Saint Louis, Houston and Tulane.

        “Those are teams that they have no business losing to,” Palm said. “Every one of those games that they lose is a black mark. If they lose at Southern Miss and if they lose at South Florida, it's not the end of the world. And there's always the conference tournament.”

        Palm has only one Conference USA team in the NCAA (Southern Miss) but said there probably will end up being two or three.

        “The reality is if (UC) ends up with a 23 RPI, they'll be in,” Palm said. “I left them out (this week) because they just haven't beaten anybody yet. Some of these other teams that I put in at least had good wins and no bad losses.”

Palm likes Xavier, Kentucky for NCAA

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