With about six weeks to go before the NCAA Tournament, Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller, in his sixth season at the helm, has his team playing its best basketball, as he seeks his first Final Four appearance in the desert.

In 2014, Miller's Wildcats, who had the nation's best nERD of 19.41 entering the 2014 NCAA Tournament, was dangerously close to college basketball's biggest stage, losing to Wisconsin 64-63 in the Elite Eight. That loss, in spite of holding Wisconsin to 39.3% field goal percentage, was namely due to Arizona's inability to defend the deft post moves of Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky, who finished the game with 28 points and 11 rebounds.

Getting Defensive

The return of 6'9" junior forward Brandon Ashley from a 2013-14 season ending foot injury to one of college basketball's deepest and most versatile frontcourts has led the Wildcats to a 20-2 record (8-1 Pac-12) and the number-six ranking in the latest AP poll. In fact, while most think of Pac-12 college basketball teams like their no-defense football counterparts, Arizona is one of the fewest opponent offensive rebounds per game in the NCAA .

Don't Get Offended, the Wildcats Can Score Too

While the type of team defense being played results in our algorithms comparing this Arizona team to Ben Howland's to a paltry 34 points in a dominant 57-34 victory during which McConnell had an absurd eight steals. All of this occurred after holding Oregon, the Pac-12's highest scoring team, in check in a 90-56 victory against a solid Ducks squad that lost to Wisconsin in the round of 32 in last season's NCAA Tournament.

Bear Down May Cut Down Nets

While the team rotation of seven or eight players is not overly deep if they get into foul trouble (especially in the backcourt), defending and trying to score against the versatile and sizable frontcourt will give opponents fits in the NCAA Tournament. Still, this rotation has been one of the best all season, which is why we currently have Arizona pegged as a number-two seed (as of January 30th) in our numberFire bracketology.

Given Kentucky's dominance, Gonzaga's looking like they may not lose again in the regular season, and Virginia's playing very well, Arizona will have to continue its dominant recent play to be in the running for the fourth number-one seed. To ensure a top seed, they will have to hope that teams like Duke and Wisconsin lose a few more games, but even without getting the a number-one seed, based on their defense, versatile frontcourt, and McConnell's leadership, the Wildcats are looking like a strong Final Four contender.