MEMPHIS – Wednesday we flip the calendar to March with the Memphis Tigers sitting on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.

But with just two games left in the regular season, don’t look for Memphis to take anything for granted.

The Tigers are at SMU Thursday before closing the year, at home, against the number one ranked team in the country in the Houston Cougars.

For a team that believes it has already done enough to guarantee itself a spot in the field of 68, their mentality heading into march is a simple one.

“We just automatic in kill mode, no matter who we’re playing. SMU, the worst team, or one of the best teams or a mediocre team. Every game is the same approach and that’s kill mode,” said Tigers guard Alex Lomas. “We have big plans with this team.”>

“They just judge us different. I feel like we’ve been on the bubble for six weeks straight. Even though we win, it feel like we never just solid it,” said Tigers guard Kendric Davis.  “For whatever reason, we get judged different but all we got to do is win and that’ll take care of itself.”

That’s the message being pushed to his team by head coach Penny Hardaway.

“We have a chance to control our own destiny. They understand what’s going on and there’s nothing that we can do about it. We can’t control how they feel about our conference or how they feel about us,” Hardaway said.  “We look and see the same things that everyone else sees, and we’ve just got to keep working harder.  Which is going to make us better for when the NCAA tournament comes.”

Notice Penny said when, not if, the NCAA Tournament comes.