The race is over, but the chase is just beginning.

With all due respect to the rest of the Southland Conference, we are halfway through the men’s basketball regular season; there is no longer any doubt about who will win the championship.

Maybe there never really was.

The Cowboys will repeat as regular-season champs for the first time in over two decades. That is a given.

Sure, head coach Will Wade will talk about winning each day and going 1-0 in practice and games. That’s what coaches do.

But we all know better.

For the first time in its history, McNeese is 10-0 in conference. The Cowboys’ thrilling 74-73 win in Corpus Christi, Texas, Monday night proved two things.

First, the Cowboys can be beaten. Second, they won’t be beaten four times over the next 10 games.

Just don’t tell Wade that.

“There are still 10 games to play. It’s not over,” he said. “There is a lot of basketball left to play.”

So for the sake of the coach, we will agree, but only to a point.

“We don’t talk about winning the league championship,” Wade added. “We focus on what we can do every day to get better.”

The Cowboys (16-5), who moved up to No. 7 in at least one of this week’s mid-major polls, own a three-game lead in the race. It is the largest conference lead in the nation.

Barring a complete collapse, at least that part of the season, is over.

Having won 21 straight in league play and 29 of 30 the last two years, I don’t see this group losing four of the next 10.

However, this season was never about the regular season. It was always going to come down to two games in early March.

That’s when the race turns into the chase.

And yes, that is when the season can still blow up.

Over those two days, the Cowboys will have a chance to earn back-to-back SLC Tournament titles and, thus, a second trip to the NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga knocked McNeese from the regionals last year in Salt Lake City, and winning that first regional game has been the goal.

McNeese is 0-3 in NCAA play.

If you think this season is about anything else, you must remember last March and that long evening in Utah.

Right after the loss, Wade told the world McNeese’s goal was to get back to the tourney and win a game.

There were no ifs, ands or buts.

Thus, the chase was on.

It would be nice to set the record for consecutive victories in league play, which Stephen F. Austin set at 32. Coincidentally, if the Cowboys were to win out, they would break that mark with the postseason tourney title.

That’s a nice little carrot to dangle out there for Wade and his posse, but this team is looking to feast on a much bigger meal that will fill their bellies.

The rest of the league now knows this. They realized after Monday that they are playing for second place and the other double-bye into the SLC semifinals.

They know that is their best chance at winning the chase after losing the race.

“McNeese is obviously the top of the class in the Southland Conference, but we showed we have enough talent to beat them,” said Islanders head coach Jim Shaw.

Maybe, but that will be hard to do on McNeese’s home floor, where they have won 26 of 27 over the last two seasons.

“Everybody knows the championship runs through Lake Charles,” Nicholls State head coach Tevon Saddler.

With just some finishing touches left on the regular season, it’s almost time to get to the point.

It’s what we all are waiting for now.

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Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese State athletics for the American Press. Email him at jimgazzolo@yahoo.com