The NCAA Tournament field will be filled in just a few hours on CBS, and UCLA is still on the outside looking in according to most projections.

If those hold, the Bruins will likely end up being one of the first four teams out, which would give them a No. 1 seed in the NIT and a few more home games at Pauley Pavilion. A little more than a week ago, Norman Powell was emphatic about wanting to continue playing if the Big Dance wasn’t an option.

“Yeah, of course,” he said. “I feel like we have a high chance, but if we don’t, playing in the NIT — you can’t knock it,” the senior said. “Reggie Miller played in the NIT. Great players have played in the NIT. It’s not like, ‘Oh, you guys suck. You guys didn’t make the tournament.’ It’s a chance to extend the season. We play in the NIT, we’re going to go on just like it’s the NCAA Tournament and try and win that.”

The consensus in the locker room more or less followed that line of thinking after Friday’s loss to Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinal.