WACO, Texas With five regular-season games remaining for the Kansas State basketball team, opportunities for quality wins &#x2014; such as Saturday at No. 9 Baylor &#x2014; are running out.</p><p>A win over the Bears would give the Wildcats a much better case to reach the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season.</p><p>&#x201C;We&#x2019;re in a tough spot,&#x201D; K-State junior swingman Rodney McGruder said. &#x201C;But there are a couple games left, so we have the opportunity to showcase what we are capable of.&#x201D;</p><p>By now, K-State has done that much. It has spent part of the season ranked in the top 25, and most national analysts are predicting K-State will make the field. At least one is highly confident that will happen.</p><p>&#x201C;I don&#x2019;t see Kansas State being in much danger,&#x201D; said RPI and bracket analyst Jerry Palm, who projects the NCAA Tournament each week on his collegerpi.com website. &#x201C;Not yet, at least.&#x201D;</p><p>Despite losing four of their last six games, falling below .500 in the Big 12, and a RPI in the 50s, Palm says K-State is strong enough to earn a double-digit seed. It would a take another home loss for him to question the Wildcats&#x2019; inclusion.</p><p>K-State, 17-8 overall and 6-7 in the Big 12, defeated Alabama (37 RPI as of Friday) and Long Beach State (41) The Wildcats&#x2019; only nonconference loss was in double-overtime to West Virginia (34).</p><p>Things haven&#x2019;t gone so well in conference games, with two losses to struggling Oklahoma sticking out, but K-State beat Texas and demolished No. 3 Missouri at home.</p><p>Only one other team has beaten the 24-2 Tigers this season. That helps K-State stand out against other bubble teams.</p><p>&#x201C;They beat a No. 1 seed,&#x201D; Palm said. &#x201C;That&#x2019;s their best win by two or three steps. That really helps.&#x201D;</p><p>So K-State has proven it can play with, and beat, one of the best teams around. The challenge now is proving it can do so when the pressure is on.</p><p>A win over Baylor would do the trick. So would another victory over Missouri, on Tuesday in Columbia. The Wildcats don&#x2019;t necessarily have to beat either team to reach the NCAA Tournament, but it would help. Similar wins over Kansas, Texas and Missouri took K-State off the bubble late last season and propelled it to a No. 5 seed. </p><p>Two losses wouldn&#x2019;t cripple the Wildcats&#x2019; chances of getting in, but they would need to close out the season with wins over Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M to finish .500 in the Big 12.</p><p>Though Palm says conference records &#x201C;are just a number&#x201D; and are not taken into consideration by the selection committee, and K-State coach Frank Martin thinks the Big 12&#x2019;s top six teams will be NCAA Tournament bound, history does not bode well for teams that have finished with losing conference records. The majority of them have not been selected.</p><p>&#x201C;Those last three games, those are games they need to win,&#x201D; Palm said. &#x201C;Missouri and Baylor are gravy. If you get one of those, that would be really sweet. Another good win on the road would mean a lot. But they don&#x2019;t need to win them like they do those other three.&#x201D;</p><p>Martin is trying not to look at things that way. Things like the NCAA Tournament aren&#x2019;t mentioned. The way he sees it, if he put added pressure on this game, it would send the wrong message. </p><p>A win today could be followed by a string of losses, rendering a victory over the Bears insignificant. Or a loss could be followed by four wins and a Big 12 tournament championship. Would anyone remember what happened against Baylor?</p><p>&#x201C;If we were in the Peanut Butter and Jelly Conference, I would say it was a great opportunity,&#x201D; Martin said. &#x201C;In the Big 12, that is your homework every single night, teams like them. You play Baylor, you play Missouri &#x2026; That&#x2019;s Big 12 basketball. Those are the challenges that are out there every single day.&#x201D;