When UConn players and coaches talked about setting the Big East regular season championship as a tangible goal this winter, it seemed a noble yet unrealistic dream.

Even if the Huskies could somehow survive the departures of Andre Drummond and Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriakhi and Roscoe Smith, surely they would lose interest in the postseason-less campaign by now, right?

Wrong. UConn is still very much in the regular-season title hunt, just a game behind front-runners Syracuse, Georgetown and Marquette. With eight games left, the 7-4 Huskies don't have much margin for error -- one more loss, maybe two. But at this point, would you bet against this likable, hard-fighting team?

Not me.

Here are the conference standings entering Thursday night's action:

Syracuse 8-3
Georgetown 8-3
Marquette 8-3
Notre Dame 8-4
Pittsburgh 8-3
Louisville 7-4
UConn 7-4
Cincinnati 7-5
St. John's 7-5
Villanova 6-6

Providence 5-7
Rutgers 4-8
Seton Hall 2-10
DePaul 1-10
USF 1-11