Given the chance to stump for his late-charging NCAA tournament bubble team, Lorenzo Romar made a simple, confident speech when asked if the Huskies belong in the Big Dance.

"No doubt," the Washington men's basketball coach said Tuesday. "No doubt about it."

No doubt, the next question was predictable: Why?

Why these Huskies, owners of a 19-point home loss to South Dakota State? Why these Huskies, who took a 25-point beating at Oregon three weeks ago?

"I think we are good enough defensively to compete in the NCAA tournament," Romar said. "I think, if and when we get everyone healthy and begin to hit on all cylinders offensively, I think we can be dangerous offensively. You put those two together, and you have a chance to be competitive with anyone. And we played some games in the preseason where I thought we were competitive. We didn't win them, but I thought we were competitive with some really quality, quality teams. And I think we're a better team now than we were back then."

Romar is biased, of course, but he's right. From the pit of a 5-5 start, the Huskies have won 15 of their past 18 games and risen to the brink of an NCAA tournament appearance because they've matured, handled injury adversity well and adjusted to get a lot out of a team that possesses exaggerated strengths and weaknesses.

They have arrived at March having accomplished this much: They now pass the eye test of an NCAA tournament team, even when they play ugly. If you watch a significant amount of college basketball, then you know this is one of the nation's best 68 teams, and should the Huskies fail to win the Pac-12 tournament and receive an automatic NCAA bid, they deserve to be among the 37 at-large bids.

Nevertheless, they enter the final two games of the regular season facing plenty of doubt. They pass the eye test, but they still don't look stellar on paper. Their RPI is 52, according to RealTimeRPI.com, which makes them a bubble team. Their record against the RPI Top 100 is only 3-8.

As Romar said, they've been competitive; they lost to two top-10 teams, Marquette and Duke, by a combined nine points. Three of the Huskies' eight losses have come by three points or less, so you can argue that they're a few plays away from a 22-6 record, or even 23-5 if you want to get greedy. Still, almost isn't something the NCAA tournament selection committee will consider heavily.

Fortunately, though, the no-doubt Huskies have one more card to play to solidify an at-large bid before the conference tournament begins.

Beat USC and UCLA this week, and there truly would be no doubt.

The Huskies are playing for their second regular-season conference title in four years this week, but most important, they are playing to limit their Selection Sunday stress level.

At the end of this taxing season, the Huskies have landed exactly where they want to be. It's in their hands now — the league championship and the Dance.

"You always want to live in the moment, and this is our moment now," forward Darnell Gant said.

Said guard Tony Wroten Jr.: "It's on us. We create our own destiny right now."

Destiny isn't as easy as it seems. Yes, USC has been awful this season, and UCLA is mediocre and maligned and will be hosting the Huskies in the Los Angeles Sports Arena, not the hallowed Pauley Pavilion. But the Huskies have swept the L.A. trip only three times in program history. They did it last season. Can they do it again?

If the Huskies beat USC on Thursday night, they're assured a share of the conference title. But winning outright is what they need for their tournament resume. For all the talk about the Pac-12's futility, it's ludicrous to think the conference's regular-season champion would be left out of the NCAA tournament with a 15-3 league record and a 22-8 mark overall. There's just no way.

If the Huskies don't sweep, I still think 22 victories is the magic number. So, if they split this week and enter the Pac-12 tourney with a 21-9 record, one victory in the conference tournament should get them in. In that case, the worst-case scenario — assuming the committee really knocks the Pac-12 for its mediocrity — would be a trip to Dayton, Ohio, for the Big Dance's glorified play-in games. But they wouldn't miss the field. No way.

After falling behind early this season, the Huskies are in control of their fate. Win the regular-season title outright, and they're in the Dance. No doubt, the Huskies are capable. Now, they must finish this season properly and claim the real spoils. No worries.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com.

Twitter: @Jerry_Brewer