Last year, Fairleigh Dickinson was in the First Four and then surprised everyone by beating the No. 1 seed Purdue, which was a very unexpected result.
After defeating Texas Southern, the 16th-seeded Knights, who were one of the shortest teams, managed to upset the tallest team, No. 1 seed Purdue, with a score of 63-58. This was only the second time a No. 16 seed had beaten a top-seeded team.
Donald Copeland, the coach of an injury-weakened Wagner team, said that anything can happen in the tournament, and this kind of unexpected victory serves as motivation for other teams.
The winner of the game between Wagner and Howard will move on as the No. 16 seed to face top-seeded North Carolina on Thursday in the West Region.
In an unusual twist, the First Four features both Colorado and Colorado State, who both finished with a record of 24-10.
Despite being the runner-up in the conference tournament, Colorado was not favored as six Pac-12 teams were ahead of them. They will face Boise State in the late game on Wednesday, with the winner moving on as the 10th seed to play seventh-seeded Florida in a South regional.
Colorado State will be playing against Virginia in the late game on Tuesday for the right to move on as the 10th seed in the Midwest to play No. 7 seed Texas. Virginia has had 10 NCAA appearances in the last 12 seasons under coach Tony Bennett and won the national title in 2019.
Isaiah Stevens, the top scorer of Colorado State, sees the tournament as a great opportunity to test the team and acknowledges that there are no easy games at this point.
Rams coach Niko Medved views being a 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament as a positive, stating that it means they get to play one more game than everyone else.
GAINING RECOGNITION
Wagner, a school with around 2,000 students in Staten Island, New York, is returning to the NCAA Tournament after 21 years.
Howard, the opponent of the Seahawks on Tuesday, participated in the tournament last year and aims to have a better performance this time.
Wagner finished in sixth place in the conference in the regular season and had to deal with player injuries. Despite this, they managed to win the NEC tournament, with a limited roster due to injuries.
The situation became so dire that Damen Mazil, the quarterback of the Wagner football team, was added to the roster in February for additional depth.
Wagner guard Javier Ezquerra expressed his amazement at the team's return to the tournament after 21 years, considering the small size of the island.
Howard had a rocky start but managed to win nine of its last 11 games, including the conference tournament, to qualify for the First Four.
Howard forward Seth Towns mentioned that the team faced challenges throughout the year but credited the coaching staff and players for not giving up and coming together in the end.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
The Grambling State team is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever after winning nine of its last 10 games, which included the SWAC regular-season title and the conference tournament.
Grambling (20-14, 14-4 SWAC) is playing against Montana State on Wednesday to move forward as the 16th seed in the Midwest, hoping to play against top-seeded Purdue on Friday.
Montana State (17-17, 9-9 Big Sky) is lucky to be in the tournament for the third consecutive season. The team had a 13-17 record on March 2 but won their last four games to even the score. They defeated Montana in the Big Sky tournament, earning an automatic bid.
