SCOTTSDALE β€” In 2019, when Arizona made a late run for the postseason that ultimately fell short, Chip Hale’s predecessor came to a realization.

β€œIf you don’t know that you’re in the tournament when you go to bed the night before,” Jay Johnson said, β€œyou’re not in the tournament.”

If that holds true, the 2023 Wildcats played their last game of the season Saturday night.

Arizona came as close to winning the Pac-12 Tournament β€” and guaranteeing a spot in the NCAA Tournament β€” as possible without doing so. The UA lost to Oregon 5-4 in the championship game at Scottsdale Stadium.

In doing so, the Wildcats (33-24) also lost control of their fate. Whether they emerge on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble will depend on the analysis of the selection committee and the results of other conference tournaments around the country.

Working in the Cats’ favor: Even with Saturday’s loss, their RPI stood at a respectable 45 as of Sunday afternoon, per WarrenNolan.com. Arizona also has a solid 8-12 record against Quad 1 opponents and a strength-of-schedule ranking of 29th.

As recently as a few weeks ago, the Wildcats’ RPI was in the mid-60s. They worked their way onto the bubble by winning seven of their final nine games, including a pair of victories over projected top-eight national seed Stanford.

β€œThey’ve battled,” Hale said Saturday night. β€œIt’s the team we thought we had. We pitched better. We swung the bats.

β€œWe have a good club. We have a club that can compete.”

Arizona is a much better team today than it was a month or two ago. The problem: Every game counts. Even with a 3-1 record in the Pac-12 Tournament, the Wildcats have an aggregate record of 16-19 against league opponents (including a midweek win over Arizona State in April).

Meanwhile, other results Sunday did not work in Arizona’s favor. In the American Athletic Tournament final, Tulane stunned top seed East Carolina. The Green Wave, at 19-40, are headed to a regional. So are the Pirates, who were in contention to host.

In the Conference USA Tournament final, a similar scenario unfolded: Charlotte upset top seed Dallas Baptist to steal a bid. The 49ers weren’t projected to make the NCAA Tournament; the Patriots were fighting for one of the 16 host spots.

Which brings us to something else Johnson said in 2019 after the Wildcats failed to make the NCAAs for the second straight season:

β€œIf you’re relying on the events of the last day which you cannot control β€” meaning conference-tournament finals β€” you’re probably not in a good position.”

Heading into Sunday’s games, D1Baseball.com projected Arizona as the second team out; Baseball America had the Wildcats as the first team out.

It’s that close.

The official answer will be revealed during the selection show at 9 a.m. Monday (ESPN2).

No looking back

Arizona had a series of near-misses and heartbreaking losses during the regular season. If half of them had gone the other way, the Wildcats’ outlook would be decidedly different.

One glaring example: The UA squandered a 10-0 lead against Oregon on April 1, losing 13-11.

Hale said he doesn’t think about what could have been.

β€œIt’s not productive,” Hale said. β€œYou’re just gonna regret everything you’ve done. If we could change anything, I’d change a lot. But you can’t. So you gotta move forward. And that’s what we teach our guys.”

Arizona’s Tony Bullard smacks a solo homer in the eighth for the final margin in the Wildcats’ 5-4 loss to Oregon on Saturday. UA will find out its NCAA Tournament fate Monday morning.

Pac plaudits

Four Wildcats β€” position players Tony Bullard, Chase Davis and Nik McClaughry, plus pitcher Bradon Zastrow β€” made the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team. All were deserving choices.

Bullard, who made the team as the DH, went 7 for 14 (.500) in the tournament with two home runs, four RBIs and seven runs scored. He has at least one hit in nine consecutive games.

Davis, named the tournament MVP, went 6 for 17 (.353) with two home runs, 12 RBIs and five runs scored. His eight-game hitting streak was snapped Saturday night.

McClaughry went 8 for 18 (.444) with one home run, six RBIs and seven runs scored while playing error-free defense at shortstop. McClaughry has hit safely in eight straight games.

Zastrow had one of the standout starting performances in the tournament, limiting the powerful Stanford offense to four runs in seven innings in the Wildcats’ 14-4, run-rule victory over the top-seeded Cardinal in the semifinals Friday. Zastrow had five strikeouts and zero walks.

Several other UA players performed well enough to merit consideration. First baseman Kiko Romero went 5 for 14 (.357) with two homers, six RBIs and four runs scored. Aiden May started two of the four games and allowed only three earned runs in 10 innings for a 2.70 ERA.

Coach Chip Hale said during his postgame address that Arizona deserves to make the NCAA Tournament. Will the selection committee see it the same way? (video by Michael Lev / Arizona Daily Star)

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Contact sports reporter Michael Lev at mlev@tucson.com. On Twitter: @michaeljlev