Men’s hoops earns highest NCAA tournament seeding ever

Having already tied the program record for most wins in a season, the Baylor men’s basketball team’s record-setting year rolls on, as head coach Scott Drew’s Bears earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament — the program’s best-ever seeding, and one that essentially ranks Baylor as one of the top 12 teams in the country.

In the first round, Baylor will face Sam Houston State Thursday afternoon at approximately 2 p.m. A limited number of tickets are available now; if you can’t make it to New Orleans, tune in on CBS or watch for free online). If the Bears win Thursday, they’ll face either Notre Dame or Old Dominion on Saturday. A win there would propel the Bears to the Sweet 16 for the first time ever.

(Interestingly, Baylor has made two Final Four appearances without ever playing in the Sweet 16; the Bears were national runners-up in 1948 and reached the Final Four again in 1950, at at time when the NCAA tournament included just eight teams.)

Among the national experts, Baylor has become a trendy pick to advance all the way to the Final Four again this year; see, for example, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and Pat Forde, or CBS’ Gary Parrish and Steve Lavin (video). Can the Bears go all the way and make this officially the best season in program history? Tune in and find out!

Sic ’em, men’s basketball!

P.S. If you missed the selection show on CBS or couldn’t make to the Bears’ gathering Sunday, BaylorBears.com has footage of both here.