Bracketology roundup: Arizona a consensus 6-seed in NCAA Tournament

March is drawing near. Where do the bracket experts see Arizona?

It's the first day of February so before we know it, it'll be March. March means two things for Tucsonans: Lucky Lime is the flavor of the month at Eegee's, and, of course, March is the month where the Arizona Wildcats go to the NCAA Tournament. After all, the Wildcats have participated in March Madness every year since 1985, with the exception of two (2010 and 2012). Arizona fans are hopeful 2016 will be no different.

As it stands now, those hopes will absolutely come true. Despite being in the middle of the Pac-12, the Wildcats find themselves at 17-5 overall, ranked 23rd in the AP poll and 20th in the Coaches poll, safely in the tournament field.

As March draws closer, it's time for fans around the country to start paying attention to their tournament hopefuls and where they stand in the bubble mix. Currently, Arizona would find themselves on a "soft bubble". Clearly in the tournament as of now but they need to keep winning to solidify their position.

Bracketologists across the world wide web currently see Arizona as a 6th seed, according to BracketMatrix.com, a website that averages out 70 different bracket projections.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi also sees Arizona as a 6th-seed, starting off in St. Louis. Lunardi has a tough draw for Arizona as he has them lined up for a potential matchup with the 3rd-seed Michigan State Spartans. He sees eight Pac-12 teams in the field, though two of them (Cal and UCLA) fall into the "Last Four In" category.

CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm has Arizona in on the 7-seed line, with a matchup in Des Moines against the VCU Rams and a potential meeting with a 2nd-seeded Kansas Jayhawks squad. Palm has seven Pac-12 teams in the field of 68, with UCLA as his first team out.

In my opinion, the analysis of Arizona as a 6-seed is correct. The Pac-12 has had a habit this year of cannibalizing itself, with no one team standing out from the crowd. The exception to that might be Oregon, as they lead the conference all alone and have a signature win on their resumé with the win at McKale Center. Arizona's RPI is currently 34th in the nation, a safe number, but they are 0-3 against teams in the RPI top 25, which hurts.

Arizona can improve their standing with one simple thing: Winning. Road wins are huge in the eyes of the committee and those seem to be coming at a premium in this year's Pac-12. The Wildcats have a shot at a pair of road wins this week against the Washington State Cougars on Wednesday night and the Washington Huskies on Saturday afternoon.

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