McNeese draws Gonzaga to open NCAA Tournament

LAKE CHARLES – McNeese learned its seeding and destination for the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on Sunday afternoon in front of hundreds of rowdy Poke Nation fans as the Cowboys were picked as a 12-seed in the Midwest Region and will take on No. 5 Gonzaga in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Tip-off will be at 6:25 CT on Thursday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The game will broadcast live on TBS with Brad Nessler, Brendan Haywood and Dana Jacobson scheduled as the broadcast talent. Ticket information will be announced when available.

The winner will play the winner of the No. 4 Kansas/No. 13 Samford matchup on Saturday.

The Cowboys (30-3) will be making its first appearance in The Big Dance for the first time since 2002 and just the third time in school history. The 12-seed is the highest for a Cowboys’ program and also matches the highest seed for a Southland Conference team in the last 40 years (SFA in 2014 and 2015).

Gonzaga (25-7), ranked 17th in the AP poll, finished second in the West Coast Conference and fell to Saint Mary’s, 69-60, in the WCC Tournament Championship game. The Bulldogs will be making their 26th appearance in the tournament.

McNeese defeated Nicholls 92-76 to win the Southland Conference Tournament championship game and earning the league’s automatic bid. McNeese last appeared in the postseason in 2002 then, as a 14-seed, fell to Mississippi State 80-66. McNeese made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1989 and dropped a 77-71 decision to No. 1 seeded Illinois.

McNeese and Gonzaga will be playing each other for the first time.

The Cowboys will ride into the postseason with the nation’s third-longest winning streak at 11 games, and are one of just four teams in the country with at least 30 wins (No. 1 Houston, 30; No. 2 UConn, 31; and James Madison with 31).