Baylor men’s basketball matched its best-ever NCAA tournament seeding, returning to March Madness as the No. 3 seed in the South Region. The Bears will face Summit League tournament champion South Dakota State in the first round on Thursday at 6:27 pm CT in Albuquerque, N.M., televised on truTV (see full bracket here).
[READ: the Waco Tribune-Herald's capsule preview of SDSU || CBS picks BU as South Region's dark horse || CBS experts like BU to Elite Eight]
You might remember the last time head coach Scott Drew’s Bears were a No. 3 seed. That was 2010, when Baylor ran to the Elite Eight with Ekpe Udoh, LaceDarius Dunn and Tweety Carter. (That squad also had Anthony Jones in the starting lineup and Quincy Acy, A.J. Walton, Cory Jefferson and Fred Ellis coming off the bench.)
[WATCH: CBS reveals the South Region || The team's reaction to the announcement (from BaylorBears.com and the Waco Trib) || ESPN's breakdown of the Bears' draw || A preview of CBS Sports' "College Hoops Confidential" episode on Baylor || CBS Sports' South Region overview || ESPN's South Region overview]
The Bears enter the NCAA tournament as the No. 9 overall seed, according to the tournament committee, after reaching the Big 12 tournament championship game on Saturday for the second time in four years. Baylor beat Kansas State and regular season Big 12 champ Kansas to reach the title game before falling to Missouri.
Sic ’em, Baylor basketball!
[The NCAA women's basketball bracket will be announced Monday at 6 p.m. on ESPN. The Lady Bears will host a watch party at the Ferrell Center's Stone Room; doors open at 5 p.m. ESPN will have cameras at the event.]
