WASHINGTON - One day after he came in last in three out of four nominating contests and pundits pondered a race between Sen. Ted Cruz and billionaire Donald Trump, Ohio Gov. John Kasich appeared on two Sunday talk shows send a message: It isn't over yet.

WASHINGTON - One day after he came in last in three out of four nominating contests and pundits pondered a race between Sen. Ted Cruz and billionaire Donald Trump, Ohio Gov. John Kasich appeared on two Sunday talk shows send a message: It isn�t over yet.

�We continue to pick up delegates,� Kasich insisted on �This Week with George Stephanopoulos� on ABC. �We�ve now moved more to my territory.�

Kasich, who has currently amassed 35 delegates, is banking on two quickly approaching dates: March 8, when Michigan and other states will collectively distribute 150 GOP delegates, and March 15, when Ohio and Florida have winner-take-all contests and in all, 367 delegates are at stake. The GOP nominee will need 1,237 delegates to win.

>> John Kasich: Complete coverage of his presidential campaign

After that, Kasich is predicting something that hasn�t happened for Republicans since 1948 – a brokered convention. Gerald Ford entered 1976 without enough delegates to secure the nomination, but ultimately prevailed on the first ballot.

Kasich said such a convention �will be very cool,� and assured Stephanopoulos that a brokered convention would not, in fact, split the Republican Party apart.

�I think at the end of the day, the Republican Party is a reflection of the nominee,� he said. � We�ll bring the party together. I really don�t worry about that.�

In the meantime, there are two more election days to prepare for. Kasich has devoted significant time and campaign resources to Michigan, and he was encouraged by a recent American Research Group poll that found him leading Trump 33 percent to 31 percent. But that poll is far from universal. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released Sunday morning had Trump at 41, Cruz at 22, Rubio at 17 and Kasich at 13. �You�re not closing the gap,� said Stephanopoulos.

�We�re going to have a good result out of Michigan,� said Kasich, comparing the Midwestern contests to �March Madness.� �I will win Ohio, and it�ll be a whole new ballgame and I�ll be able to compete in a lot of these states.�

Currently, Trump has 382 delegates, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has 300 and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has 128, according to the Associated Press.

Kasich virtually guaranteed a victory in Ohio, where 66 delegates are at stake, calling the state �the gravitational center of the political universe.�

Appearing on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo on Fox, Kasich said he was prepared to campaign hard in the meantime, but predicted �I think it�s going be an interesting time in Cleveland.�

He said he had a �home court advantage� in Ohio, and insisted he would also do well in other later-voting states, such as Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

�We�re just going to keep plugging,� he said, �and hopefully get to Cleveland in a good strong position.�

On ABC, Kasich disputed Stephanopoulos� theory that Kasich�s strategy was as a �spoiler� for Trump, saying he was running because he has �the record and the vision to run the United States of America.�

�We�re not running for class president,� he said. �This is not Valentine�s Day, where we stuff the ballot box, okay?�

jwehrman@dispatch.com

@JessicaWehrman