MHERST — If nothing else, Tuesday night's loss at Dayton served as a reminder of the enormity of the task the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team has been facing.

The 89-76 setback ended a six-game UMass winning streak and left the Minutemen with an 8-2 record in the Atlantic 10 Conference. But since the impact of a 2-9 nonconference record never goes away, the Minutemen (10-11 overall) still face an uphill climb to postseason basketball.

They're in the midst of an eight-day break that ends with Wednesday night's game against Xavier, the first of three straight at the Mullins Center.

After home games against Xavier, Temple and Rhode Island, UMass is on the road at George Washington and St. Joseph's, then home to St. Bonaventure in the March 3 regular-season finale.

When the schedule resumes, UMass is looking at a handful of postseason scenarios, none of them easy or guaranteed:

1. Win the Atlantic 10 tournament and the automatic A-10 berth in the NCAA tournament. This is the only sure path to the NCAA field, and a quick-fix solution to an entire season's problems.

With 11 teams in the conference, the top five finishers draw first-round byes into the quarterfinals. UMass seems certain to be in that group, so the Minutemen would need three victories in three days at the A-10 tournament to clinch the automatic bid.

Given this team's deep, nine-man rotation, that seems possible. The major roadblocks are St. Joseph's (8-1 A-10), Xavier (8-2) and Temple (7-2).

2. Qualify as an NCAA at-large member. Tuesday night's loss pushed this prospect close to the realm of the impossible, though it's not quite there yet.

Let's say UMass wins five of its six final regular-season games, wins its first two A-10 tournament games, then loses the A-10 final — thus missing out on the automatic NCAA bid. That leaves the Minutemen at 17-13 on Selection Sunday, including a 15-4 finish that might lure the selectors.

But would that be enough? Probably not.

In 1996-97, UMass was selected with a 18-13 record against Division I teams, but that came a year after the Final Four season and was the team's sixth straight NCAA appearance. Past reputation may have helped UMass in 1997, a year the Atlantic 10 was also highly regarded and had five teams picked.

The Minutemen no longer enjoy the benefits of past reputation, and the A-10 is ranked as the seventh-best conference in America. If the selections were made today, it seems certain that only Xavier and St. Joseph's would be picked.

UMass' Ratings Percentage Index mark is also not good enough. The Minutemen were ranked 70th in the power ratings as of Thursday. Anything above 45, and in some years 40, is usually viewed as a negative.

Of course, if UMass sweeps its last six games, wins its first two A-10 tournament games and loses the final, an 18-12 record would likely be good enough. For one thing, that would mean an eye-popping 14-2 A-10 mark and the regular-season league title.

Playing America's 12th-toughest schedule (as of this week's ratings) would be factored in, and selectors also would likely have no problem giving this conference three teams.

3. Return to the NIT. All a team must do to qualify is finish at .500. That means UMass must win four of its last six, and take a 14-13 record into the A-10 tournament.

But finishing .500 only means a team is eligible. It must then be picked for the 32-team field.

The NIT has been favorable to UMass in the past — including last year, when 17-15 was good enough. But 14-14, or even 15-14 with one A-10 tournament win, might not be.

The NIT, of course, wasn't what the Minutemen had in mind when this season began. Higher goals were set, and still exist.

But the price of a poor start is the need to play nearly perfect basketball down the stretch, as UMass makes its pitch to salvage the promise this season once held.