St. Mary's - Middle Tennessee Tournament Facts

Here are some NCAA Tournament facts about St. Mary's and Middle Tennessee State:

St. Mary's
St. Mary's is 3-7 all-time in the NCAA tournament.

This is Randy Bennett's 5th appearance as a coach for St. Mary's.  He is 2-4.

St. Mary's is 0-3 as an at-large.  Only Nebraska (0-5), Air Force (0-4) and Yale (0-4) have a worse record as an at-large.

Middle Tennessee State
Middle Tennessee State is 2-6 all-time in the NCAA tournament.  This is their first appearance as a member of the Sun Belt.  All of their previous appearances were when they were in the Ohio Valley.

This is Kermit Davis, Jr.'s first appearance as a coach for Middle Tennessee State.  He previously coached in the tournament at Idaho.  He is 0-2 in the tournament.

This is Middle Tennessee State's second appearance as an at-large.  Their only other at-large bid was in 1987.  That year they were a #12 seed and lost to #5 Notre Dame 84-71 in the Round of 64.

Middle Tennessee State has been an #11 seed one other time (1982).  In that tournament, they defeated Kentucky 50-44 in the First Round for their first ever tournament win, but lost to Louisville 81-56 in the Second Round.

Tournament Droughts

2013 Tournament teams with the longest tournament droughts (with last appearance):

1. Middle Tennessee State (1989)
2. La Salle (1992)
3. James Madison (1994)
4. North Carolina A&T (1995)
5. Mississippi (2002)
6. Liberty (2005)
    Valparaiso (2005)
8. Northwestern State (2006)
    Pacific (2006)
    Southern (2006)

Florida Gulf Coast is also making their first tournament appearance.

Opening Round History

Tonight the tournament begins.  This round is know by many names:  "Play-in Game", "Opening Round", "First Four", "First Round".  Whatever it is called, it is the round before the round of 64.  Many people believe that it started in 2001 when the field expanded to 65.  However, there were actually opening round games in 1983 and 1984 before the field expanded to 64.

In 1983, the field expanded to 52 games, but they #4 seed to have a bye, so they created the extra round with two #12 teams in each regional for a total of 4 opening round games.  In 1984, the field was expanded to 53 games and their were 5 opening round games with one of them being between #11 seeds.

With the field expanded to 64, there was no need for an extra round until 2001 when the Mountain West Conference began.  The NCAA did not want to reduce the number of at-large teams, so they expanded the field to 65.  This created the need for an extra game between #16 seeds.  In 2011, the field once again expanded to 68 and the First Four was born.

Alcorn State has played in the most opening round games having played in 3.  North Carolina A&T will tie them with their third opening round game this year.  Here is the history of opening round games for this year's participants:

North Carolina A&T
1983 - Lost to Princeton 53-41
1984 - Lost to Morehead State 70-69

Liberty - Never played an Opening Round game

St. Mary's - Never played an Opening Round game

Middle Tennessee State - Never played an Opening Round game

Long Island-Brooklyn
1984 - Lost to Northeastern 90-87

James Madison - Never played an Opening Round game

La Salle
1983 - Defeated Boston 70-58

Boise State - Never played an Opening Round game

Schools that achieved their highest ever Seed

Teams that achieved their highest ever Seed in this tournament.  Those that achieved it for the first time are in bold.

#1 Seed

• Gonzaga (1st time) - Previous high #2 in 2004
• Indiana (3rd time) - Last time was 1993
• Kansas (11th time) - Last time was 2011
• Louisville (3rd time) - Last time was 2009

#2 Seed

• Miami, Florida (2nd time) - Last time was 1999

 #3 Seed

• New Mexico (3rd time) - Last time was 2010
• Marquette (4th time) - 2nd consecutive year

#4 Seed

• Saint Louis (1st time) - Previous high #7 in 1994

#8 Seed

• Colorado State (1st time) - Previous high #10 in 1989 and 1990

#11 Seed

• Belmont (1st time) - Previous high #13 in 2011
• Middle Tennessee State (2nd time) - Last time was 1982

#12 Seed

•  Akron (1st time) - Previous high #13 in 2009

#13 Seed

• Boise State (1st time) - Previous high #14 in 1988, 1993, 1994 and 2008
• South Dakota State (1st time) - Previous high #14 in 2012

#14 Seed

• Northwestern State (2nd time) - Last time was 2006

#15 Seed

• Florida Gulf Coast (1st time) - First tournament appearance

 #16 Seed

• Liberty (3rd time) - Last time was 2004