This is a critical stretch for Utah women’s basketball

The next few weeks are likely to play a major role in the Utah women’s basketball team’s postseason fate, both in Big 12 tournament seeding and regarding the Utes’ possibility of extending a four-year streak of making the NCAA tournament.

With 11 games left in the regular season, the Utes stand at 14-5 overall and 5-2 in Big 12 play.

Beginning Saturday against No. 19 Texas Tech — a 5 p.m. MST tipoff at the Huntsman Center — Utah will play five other NCAA hopefuls over the next three weeks.

Going into Friday, the Utes were No. 43 in the NET rankings, eighth among Big 12 members.

While coaches won’t look past the upcoming game, let’s take a deeper look into what the next few weeks hold for Utah in terms of competition — and how these games could impact their NCAA resume.

The road ahead — Utah’s next 6 games

vs. No. 19 Texas Tech — Saturday, 5 p.m. MST (ESPN+)

• Huntsman Center
• Texas Tech NET ranking: No. 31 (5th in Big 12)

The Red Raiders (19-2, 6-2 Big 12) started the season off on a program-best 19-game winning streak, headlined by a one-point win at then-No. 15 Baylor in the Big 12 opener for both schools.

Texas Tech has lost its last two games, though, falling at home last weekend to Kansas State, then dropping a 73-61 decision at BYU on Wednesday.

Which Texas Tech team will the Utes get?

vs. No. 22 West Virginia — Tuesday, 7 p.m. MST (ESPN+)

• Huntsman Center
• West Virginia NET ranking: No. 22 (2nd in Big 12)

The Mountaineers (16-4, 6-2 Big 12) are one of several teams in the mix to earn a top 4 seed in the Big 12 tournament and a double-tourney bye into the quarterfinals.

Their headlining win is beating then-No. 11 Iowa State in the midst of a three-game stretch against ranked opponents, including Texas Tech and TCU.

West Virginia is on a two-game win streak — beating Cincinnati on the road and Arizona State at home — and will face BYU on Saturday before playing the Utes.

at BYU — Jan. 31, 2 p.m. MST (ESPN+)

• Marriott Center
• BYU NET ranking: No. 50 (9th in Big 12)

The Cougars (15-4, 4-3 Big 12) are coming off a signature win, beating Texas Tech 73-61 behind the efforts of Olivia Hamlin (20 points, four rebounds, two steals), Delaney Gibb (18 points, six assists, five rebounds, four steals) and Lara Rohkohl (15 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks, one steal).

BYU is viewed as an NCAA bubble team at the moment, and the first meeting of these two rivals is likely to factor into the resume hopes for both.

They’ll play again at the Huntsman Center on Feb. 21.

at UCF — Feb. 4, 5 p.m. MST (ESPN+)

• Addition Financial Arena
• UCF NET ranking: No. 124 (14th in Big 12)

Unlike the five other opponents Utah will face during this stretch, UCF (10-9, 2-6 Big 12) is below .500 in Big 12 play.

When matched up against Big 12 teams with winning conference records such as Baylor, Texas Tech, Arizona State and BYU, the Knights have lost by double-digits. In their six league losses, UCF has lost by an average of 17.6 points.

Could this be a trap game for Utah when they travel across the country for a mid-week road contest?

vs. Iowa State — Feb. 7, 5 p.m. MST (ESPN+)

• Huntsman Center
• Iowa State NET ranking: No. 32 (6th in Big 12)

The Cyclones (15-5, 3-5 Big 12) are a bit of an enigma right now. At their best, they started the year 14-0 and were ranked in the top 10, but a five-game losing streak in Big 12 action — when two starters were lost to injury — has changed the complexion of their season.

The Cyclones looked more like their old selves in a win this week over Cincinnati and got one of those starters, Arianna Jackson, back on the court. If Iowa State regains the level of play it had earlier in the year, the Cyclones will be in the NCAA tournament discussion again.

at Arizona State — Feb. 11, 6:30 p.m. MST (ESPN+)

• Desert Financial Arena
• Arizona State NET ranking: No. 42 (7th in Big 12)

Under first-year head coach Molly Miller, the Sun Devils (17-3, 4-3 Big 12) have quickly turned around a once moribund program and are in the hunt for an NCAA bid, though ASU is coming off a loss at West Virginia where it blew a six-point second-half lead.

Arizona State beat Utah by a point in Salt Lake City on New Year’s Eve when the two teams first met in a game the lead changed hands four times in the final 33 seconds.

Can Utah get some redemption for that earlier loss? Wins over teams such as ASU and BYU, in particular, would help the Utes in the NCAA bubble discussion — a place where all three find themselves.

What’s at stake?

Unless a team such as Iowa State, BYU or Arizona State enters the rankings — though the Cyclones are receiving votes and were ranked as high as No. 10 earlier this year — No. 19 Texas Tech and No. 22 West Virginia will be the final two ranked teams Utah faces in the regular season.

Utah already beat then-No. 8 TCU on Jan. 3, when the Utes prevailed 87-77 in overtime to give the Horned Frogs their first loss, and lost to then-No. 18 Baylor in a cold-shooting contest a week and a half ago.

Both of those contests were at the Huntsman Center.

Utah is 3-5 against Quad 1 and Quad 2 opponents thus far, and there’s a chance that five of the Utes’ next six games, outside of the contest at UCF, will classify as Quad 1 games by season’s end.

There’s even the possibility that all six will classify as, at worst, Quad 2 games, with more than half of them Quad 1.

With the strength of the Big 12, Utah is currently viewed as an NCAA bubble team that is in the field.

In ESPN’s latest bracketology update released Friday morning, the Utes were a No. 10 seed and listed among the “Last Four Byes.”

Earlier this week, Utah was also included in CBS Sports’ latest bracketology, though the Utes’ standings was a bit more perilous. Utah landed a No. 11 seed in their projections, with a First Four matchup as one of the final four teams in the field.

Current Big 12 standings

As of Friday, Jan. 23