The Green Wave can end up anywhere from a top-four seed in the tournament to being left out completely.
What would college basketball be without a little bit of drama?
That's certainly what the Tulane Green Wave is feeling right now, as the team is just as close to a top-four seed in the American Conference Tournament as it is to being left out completely.
Yes, you read that correctly.
For the most part, there's only a few games that separate some of the league's top teams, and those at the bottom of the totem pole. This became especially true on Thursday night, as the North Texas Mean Green stunned the Memphis Tigers, winning 76-69.
As it stands now, the South Florida Bulls are the conference front-runner, with a 9-3 record in league play. The Tulsa Golden Hurricane isn't far behind at 8-4. Both the Charlotte 49ers and Temple Owls -- a team that the Green Wave knocked off in dominant fashion on Wednesday -- sit at 7-4 in the American.
From there, things get a bit more dicey. Memphis is tied with the UAB Blazers and Wichita State Shockers at 7-5 in conference play, and the Florida Atlantic Owls are 6-6. The Green Wave is the lone 5-6 team, though North Texas and the Rice Owls are nipping at the team's heels at 5-7 on the year. The East Carolina Pirates are 3-9, while the UTSA Roadrunners are still searching for their first conference victory and sit at 0-12 on the year so far.
Only the top 10 teams in the American will make the conference tournament, which runs from March 11th-15th in Birmingham. If it were to begin today, Tulane would just barely earn a spot in the tournament as the ninth-overall seed.
These final seven games of the regular season are crucial for the Green Wave. The team has won two of its last three matchups and could roll with that momentum; it's only two games back from reaching a top-four seed, with a head-to-head tiebreaker victory over Temple.
At the same time, it's just as easy for Tulane to slip back in the standings and potentially out of the tournament picture completely. One more loss ties the program with North Texas and Rice -- barring any changes in either of those teams' records. This close race for the last few spots in the tournament becomes even bigger in the coming week, as the Green Wave is set to take on the Mean Green on February 19th and the Owls on February 22nd. Tulane has already lost to North Texas once this year, and desperately needs to win by at least nine points to claim the tiebreaker, if it comes down to it.
Aside from those two programs, every team that remains on the Green Wave's schedule is well ahead of the program: four of the matchups are against teams that are currently projected as top-five seeds.
Tulane will face its latest tough test on Sunday as it travels to take on UAB. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. on ESPNU.