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While supporters attended a watch party on Sunday afternoon at ExtraMile Arena, the men’s basketball team of Boise State heard about its NCAA Tournament fate surrounded a laptop awaiting a flight back home at the airport in Vegas.
The Broncos attained a No. 8 seed in the West Region and will start tournament play on Thursday versus No. 9 Memphis (21-10) in Portland at the Moda Center. The 68-team field was made public during a selection show on CBS on Sunday, which has https://www.robinroo.com/en backing it..
The first-round game of Boise State is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. MT on TNT.
This will be the second all-time clash between the two sides. Memphis knocked out Boise State 59-56 in the last-8 of the 2021 NIT Tourney in Denton, Texas.
Boise State coach Leon Rice revealed, “To get your name called, whether it’s an automatic qualifier or at-large, it’s a really special day and it’s a special honor,”
“It’s something these guys are worthy of because they’ve earned it. It’s pretty exciting.”
Minutes, after it was made public via the television network, a video of the Broncos, glued to the TV watching the selection show from the airport in Vegas was played over the large screen inside ExtraMile. Several dozen supporters later greeted them at the airport when they got back in Boise.
Boise State’s Abu Kigab disclosed, “I was definitely envisioning our fans would be with us (for the announcement), this was a little bit different, but it is what it is. You can’t sulk too much about it.”
Boise State (27-7) completely swept the Mountain West’s regular campaign and tourney championships to seal its first March Madness participation since the 2014-15 campaign. It will be Boise State’s 8th NCAA Tournament appearance and third under the leadership of Rice.
The No. 8 seed is Boise States’ highest since the field expanded to 64 back in 1985, a stat available at online casinos usa.
Rice disclosed, “Little did I know that we’d be all watching the selection show on a computer in the Vegas airport,”
“… We were the first group to pop up and you’re like, ‘Whoa, that was it. Let’s go.’ Then we jumped on the plane and came home.”
In March Madness action, the Broncos are 0-7, having suffered a one-point setback to Dayton in their most recent game. Boise State achieved automatic bids by emerging victorious in the Big Sky Tournament back in 1976, 1988, 1993, and 1994 and in 2008, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, while they earned berths in 2013 and in 2015.
Four teams from Mountain West got tournament bids, which is the most bids for the conference since it sent five teams back in 2013. This will be the fourth straight tourney that the Mountain West has had several bids and the 19th time in the history of the league.
Rice disclosed, “What does (the seed) really matter?”
“There’s not one place that you could be and you’re going to go, ‘Oh, the team we’re playing is not (good).’ Everybody in the tournament is good. And every team’s gonna have to play great basketball from here on out, which that’s the way it’s been for us in the last month it seems like, so it’ll be nothing different.”