Scott Machado, Barack Obama, David Cameron and the First Four

Conference tournaments are in the books. Time to crack some nuts. Lose and go home. It’s tournament time. Here is tonight’s meal:

#16 WKU (15-18, 7-9 SBC) VS. #16 MISS. VALLEY STATE (21-12, 17-1 SWAC)

2012 NCAA TOURNAMENT — FIRST ROUND

Tuesday, March 13 • 5:30 PM (CT) • Dayton, Ohio • University of Dayton Arena

This one could be entitled: The President visits heaven on earth. News broke today the Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron will be in attendance for this game. When at UD the question arises: Is this heaven? No it’s Ud Arena. Basketball on Edwin C. Moses Boulevard is a special event.

After a stunning run through the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, WKU heads to its 22nd NCAA Tournament beginning Tuesday night at 5:30 (CT) in the fi rst round in Dayton, Ohio against Mississippi Valley State. The Hilltoppers are riding a six-game winning streak into their third NCAA Tournament trip in the last fi ve seasons, and the 2012 squad will be looking to become the 12th WKU team to win a game in the Big Dance. WKU rolled through the Sun Belt Conference Tournament last week with four wins in four days, and a win on Tuesday would send the Hilltoppers to Louisville for a second-round matchup against Bluegrass foe and tournament number-one overall seed Kentucky. WKU has never played in the NCAA Tournament First Round, but the Hilltoppers are 1-4 all-time in tournament games contested in Dayton.

The big question for this game revolves around the whereabouts of Doug Hauschild. Is the University of Dayton sports information director on campus hosting the Commander in Chief? Or is Doug in Iowa with the Flyers who are taking on the Hawkeyes in an NIT first round game?

Mississippi Valley State

Western Kentucky Game Notes

No. 14 Iona College (25-7; RPI: 40) vs. No. 14 BYU (25-8; RPI: 46)
NCAA Championship First Round
Dayton, OH – UD Arena

The Iona College men’s basketball team (25-7) received its first ever at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament and will take on the West Coast Conference’s Brigham Young University (25-8).  Iona makes its ninth appearance in the NCAA Championship and first since the 2006 campaign.

Officially, Iona is 0-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament after its 1980 appearance was vacated due to violations.  The Gaels had a couple heartbreaking defeats in tournament play, falling to Ole Miss in 2001 and Syracuse in 1998 by two points and back-to-back one point defeats to Virginia and Loyola (Ill.) in 1984 and 1985.

The two teams meet for the first time in history.

Iona is 2-7 all time vs. current WCC opponents all-time.  The Gaels last faced a WCC foe in its last postseason contest, falling to Santa Clara in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament last March.  Iona is 2-2 vs. Gonzaga, 0-2 vs. Santa Clara and San Francisco and 0-1 vs. Portland.  Prior to last seasons meeting with the Broncos it was 21 seasons before the Gaels faced a team from the WCC.

The 2011-12 season marks BYU’s 27th NCAA Tournament appearance in the program’s history. The Cougars have a 14-29 record in the NCAA Tournament. With an 89-67 win over Gonzaga in the third round, BYU advanced to the Regional Semifinals for the first time since 1981. This is BYU’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in Dayton. This is BYU’s first time as a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament. BYU is 9-17 in its opening round games in NCAA Tournament play. In 2010-11, BYU won two games in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1981 when the Cougars (as a No. 6 seed), defeated Princeton, 60-51 before upsetting No. 3-seed UCLA 78-55. BYU went on to defeat No. 2-seed Notre Dame on Danny Ainge’s last-second, length-of-the-court dash, 51-50, to advance to the Regional Finals before losing to Ralph Sampson and No. 1-seed Virginia, 74-60.

The winner of this game gets Marquette, Wednesday.

BYU Game Notes

Iona Game Notes