Here we are just a few weeks away from the craziest month in college basketball ? “March Madness” ? and our own Sacramento State Hornets, with a 47-game road losing streak, actually have a slim, outside shot of making the big dance.

That is our men?s basketball team, not the women?s program. Please, don?t confuse losing streaks.

Who would have imagined that the once dormant and lowly Hornets of seasons past are now knocking on the door of postseason play?

To tell you the truth, I never thought the program would ever create such a buzz. At least, not while I was here.

Yeah, I heard the big talk from a brash, little interim head coach a season ago while covering a 5-22 Hornets bunch, but I didn?t believe him. It?s every coach?s obligation to think and speak highly of their team?s prospects, even if they know it?s a lost cause. Ask the women?s basketball team, they?ll tell you.

Boy, how things have changed in just a season?s time. That brash head coach was right after all, and this reporter is eating his words. Jerome Jenkins, head coach of the resurgent men?s basketball team, has turned around the program. Currently 3-9 in the Big Sky Conference, the Hornets sit just outside the playoff hunt in seventh position behind Portland State University.

In order for the Hornets to get to the conference tourney, they will need to win out their final two regular season games.

Fortunately for them, they can leave those horrible road uniforms on the clothing racks for their final games will be at home.

Before you breathe a sigh of relief, Eastern Washington University is their first draw on Friday.

The Eagles soar into town with the conference?s second best record and momentum in their corner. The Eagles sport a six-game winning streak and have previously waxed the courts with the Hornets, downing them by 20 points.

Bottom line: The Hornets will need to win this game, not for the playoffs but for their own sake. Portland State has its own share of problems with Northern Arizona University on Friday. A win, however, would give Sac State the confidence and guts to show up and play the most important game in this school?s history ? a do-or-die showdown with Portland State for the Big Sky?s final playoff berth.

The Hornets were seconds away from victory in their previous match-up at Portland State. Anything goes in this game. Both teams will need their superstars to shine. This could be tough a predicament for Sac State, who has watched its brightest stars fizzle out lately.