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For the second straight year, the Arizona Wildcats (18-8) find their consecutive streak of NCAA tournament appearances in jeopardy. And just as they did in the previous season, the Cats have come roaring with a response. A weekend sweep of the Los Angeles schools, including a victory over 6th ranked UCLA, likely moves Arizona to the top of the tournament bubble, but there’s still plenty of work to be done before they secure a ticket to the big dance.

There’s no denying that the tournament committee handed the Wildcats a gift in 2008. That team was clearly a long shot for anything other than the NIT, but with so much interest and talk about the nation’s longest consecutive appearance streak possibly coming to an end, they received sympathy votes. Even the Tucson faithful can’t deny this. But to extend that streak to 25, these Cats will be forced to earn the invitation.

In mid January, this was a reeling program, beginning the new year by losing 5 of 7, including 3 consecutive losses. That’s when talks of the streak surfaced again, and it appeared clear that this was no longer like the Olson programs that once dominated the conference. But as many of us gave up and wrote the Wildcats off for dead, they came clawing with new life, becoming winners of 7 straight and still peaking. Saturday’s victory snapped an 8-game losing skid to UCLA, and a program once possessing a hopeless view of the postseason has taken on the appearance of a legitimate tournament contender.

There are 5 regular season games remaining before the Pac 10 tournament. Arizona has upcoming dates with Arizona State and conference leader Washington. Win one of those two games, and I’d say they were a definite “in” for the NCAA tournament, regardless of their performance in the conference tourney. Win all the games down the stretch, and we could possibly be talking about the Arizona Wildcats as your Pac 10 champions.

The record for consecutive tournament appearances is 27, set by North Carolina. Arizona is still 3 years behind that mark, but still very much alive.