Courtesy of WKU Athletics
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The WKU men’s basketball team lived out the dream of every college basketball team in the country on Sunday evening, hearing its named called on Selection Sunday in front of hundreds of Hilltopper fans in E.A. Diddle Arena. The Hilltoppers learned from the selection show they will face No. 2 Marquette in the first round as the 15 seed in the South Region. WKU and Marquette will square off on Friday, March 22 in Indianapolis at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Hilltoppers earned the automatic bid to the tournament for Conference USA with a 78-71 win against UTEP on Saturday night in the conference tournament finals in Huntsville, Alabama. It is WKU’s 24th all-time appearance in the NCAA tournament and the first for the Hilltoppers since 2013.
WKU and Marquette have played only once in the programs’ histories. That matchup came in the first round of the 1976 NCAA Tournament in Dayton, Ohio. The Hilltoppers lost that game, 79-60.
WKU’s 15 seed is the highest for the Hilltoppers since being a 12 seed in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
The winner of Friday’s game will face the winner of No. 7 Florida and the winner of the 10 seeded First Four game between Colorado and Boise State on Sunday, March 24.
Out of WKU’s 23 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, the Hilltoppers have advanced to the Second Round 11 times, most recently in 2009. WKU has gone to the Sweet 16 six times in program history, most recently in 2008.
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