Here we are, knocking on March’s door. The time of year that college basketball junkies adore. There’s usually a few buzzer beaters, and BracketBusters, Davids and Goliaths, shattered dreams and glass slippers. It is not yet time for the “Big Dance,” but time to punch your ticket to it.

That’s right folks, it’s championship week. Unless of course you’re the Big Ten. As for University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a trip to the tourney will have to be accompanied by a date with destiny.

It’s not as though there isn’t an opportunity out there, though. Butler lost to Drake recently, snapping the Bulldogs nine-game winning streak and making them look somewhat human.

That being said, Butler is 14-2 in Horizon league play, while defending champ Wright St. is 12-4. The road to the tourney will go through those two schools and anyone hoping to claim the championship is going to have to pull off nothing short of a miracle.

If any team could pull off such a heroic feat, the Panthers could be the team to do it. They have faced a ton of distractions, lost two starters and are still tied for fourth place in the conference standings. They played the Bulldogs less than two weeks ago and took them into overtime before finally falling 83-75.

Let’s be realistic though. The Panthers have lost six of their last seven and three in a row; and it seems as though all of the adversity the team has endured this year is finally starting to catch up with them. Though head coach Rob Jeter has done a magnificent job thus far - he should be in the running for Horizon League coach of the year honors - expecting him to win the conference tournament is like giving a beginning mountain climber a pair of gloves and boots and expecting him to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. Even if the Panthers can stay put in the standings to earn a first round home game, they still would have to win five straight games. That’s a lot to ask for from a team that’s longest winning streak this year is six games.

In comparison, the top two seeds in the conference receive two bye’s each before having to play there first game of the tournament. So as of right now, Wright St. and Butler would only have to win two games apiece to clinch the conference crown.

The players and coaches of the Panthers deserve a great deal of credit for sticking together and playing through the misfortunes they did. They battled back to win some games after a dismal start in which no one gave them a chance and it’s hard to ignore a team with that much determination and guts.

They also have proven they can win five games in a row, but it seems as though the wind has left their sails as of late. While you never say never, if I was a betting man, I think I’d put my money on the favorite, because even though every team has a chance, the deck is stacked against them.

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