With double-bye still in play, Stephen F. Austin has a huge week ahead

It's a Monday night, two days before Stephen F. Austin hosts Abilene Christian on senior night in Nacogdoches. Head coach Kyle Keller and Lumberjacks voice Rob Meyers are hosting their weekly radio show at a local restaurant, joined for this episode by senior guard Ivan Canete.

It's a big and spirited crowd, the murmuring of happy conversation dominating the foreground as Keller explains to those in attendance (and everyone else listening across the Lumberjacks Sports Network) how badly he wants to face Lamar one more time in the Southland Conference Tournament.

From the mood in the room, you'd never guess it's two days after one of the more distressing losses for the Lumberjacks' basketball program in recent memory. Just 48 hours prior, SFA fell at home to end the nation's third longest home court winning streak, effectively removing them from the conference title conversation.

But right now, surrounded by purple-clad friends and family, Keller looks at peace.

"We had one of our best practices of the entire season today," he tells me while Meyers and Canete share a one-on-one segment on the air. "We reviewed some stuff [since Saturday] and I feel pretty good about it if we see them again."

Lamar has done twice successfully what many have tried unsuccessfully in slowing down one of the fastest paced offenses in all of college basketball. Most know that taking away the fast-break and forcing SFA's roster to overthink decisions in a slow half-court setting is the key to beating them — but nobody has done it like the Cardinals.

It has been part of a rollercoaster of emotions that has defined the 2017-18 season for Stephen F. Austin basketball. Highs and lows through the marathon slate have driven the most passionate crazy while they struggle to reconcile a win in SEC country and an equally dominant non-conference run with a sweep at the hands of a Southland Conference foe in Lamar who is sits at just 215 in RPI.

But, truth be told, those highs and lows are not unlike the emotions of college basketball fans everywhere. With very few exceptions, the teams that are still in relevant conversations this time of year are the privileged.

Parks Smith, who exchanged a Q&A with The Sawmill before SFA opened the season at Longwood, addressed the turmoil around his team's fanbase in a piece for his site titled "Now What?"

"Most of all I’m jealous," he wrote. "It really stinks to see the excitement and frenzy around the Big South yesterday as crazy seeding scenarios played out. I want to be part of that, I want to feel something in February, I want to watch meaningful basketball, and I’d really like to make it March."

It's a crazy sport and Keller's Lumberjacks know their season has not yet been defined. Fans know, or should know, that consequential basketball in late February and March is a privilege not afforded to all.

These are not games to take for granted.

With two regular season matches to play, SFA is enters a critical week where, with some help, a double-bye to the semifinals in the Southland Conference tournament is still in play. The formula is simple: beat Abilene Christian and Sam Houston State and hope Southeastern Louisiana (who is battling its share of distractions this week) falls at New Orleans and at home against league-leading Nicholls on Saturday.

Considering all at stake for SLU's opponents, that's a very conceivable outcome — so long as the Lumberjacks take care of business.

But that shouldn't even matter. Three games or two, Keller knows his team needs to be playing their best basketball in Katy because the ultimate goal — an NCAA Tournament berth — remains within reach. Momentum built now can carry any team to that goal.

And then? Anything can happen. Anything. That's why it's called March Madness, after all.

But on this Monday night, standing in the back of CC's Smokehouse, chatting up the owner and watching his former employer, Kansas, battle the Texas Longhorns on a flatscreen hanging from the center of the wall, Keller is quietly confident and unphased by the season's latest down swing. "Our opponent is us," he says, repeating his season-long mantra. "We need to get better this week."

For now, the league team from Abilene is en route to Nacogdoches and SFA is preparing as if their clash on Wednesday is the biggest game of the year. Because, in many ways, with so much potentially on the line, it is.