In Salt Lake City, excitement is in the air as the BYU Cougars and Utah State Aggies are set to join “The Big Dance.”
Both teams have secured their spots in the NCAA Basketball Tournament this March, as was widely anticipated.
The BYU Cougars have been placed as the 6th seed in the East region. Their first challenge will be against the 11th seed, Duquesne, this Thursday in Omaha, Nebraska.
On the other hand, the Utah State Aggies have been awarded the 8th seed in the Midwest region. They are slated to face the 9th seed, Texas Christian University (TCU), in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Cougars wrapped up their season with a record of 23-10, landing them in 5th place within the Big 12 Conference.
Utah State boasted an impressive season finish of 27-6, clinching the Mountain West Conference regular season title outright.
However, both teams faced setbacks in their conference postseason tournaments. The Aggies were defeated in the semi-finals by San Diego State, while BYU was ousted in the quarterfinals by Texas Tech.
Fans in Utah have a unique opportunity to witness March Madness firsthand. The Delta Center in Salt Lake City will host two first-round games on Thursday and a second-round game on Saturday. Additionally, in the Midwest Region, #5 Gonzaga will compete against #12 McNeese, and #4 Kansas will take on #13 Samford. The victors of these matchups will face off on Saturday.