The NCAA Selection Committee announced that the University of Memphis men's basketball team received an eighth seed in the East Region of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Sunday.
The Tigers (23-9) will face ninth-seeded George Washington on Friday in Raleigh, N.C.
Memphis head coach Josh Pastner hoped the Tigers would get a seed or two higher, but his team was excited for the next phase of their season.
"It's a great privilege to be apart of the tournament-not a birthright," the fifth-year coach said just after finding out the Tigers' draw. "Now we have an opportunity to play a very, very good G.W. team."
Heavy criticism has poured in over the last several seasons for Pastner and the Tigers, who have failed to make it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. They fell to Arizona three seasons ago, St. Louis two years ago and Michigan State in their second game of the tournament last season.
Should the U of M beat the Colonials, they would have to turn around quickly to almost certainly face the first-seeded Virginia Cavaliers. The Cavaliers face Coastal Carolina, but a one seed has never lost a second-round game in the history of the tournament.
From there, the Tigers have American Athletic Conference foe Cincinnati, a three seed, and Michigan State, a four seed, in the way of their hopes to make the elite eight.
On the other side of Memphis' region, Villanova, a two seed, will be favored to make it out to the elite eight. However, third-seeded Iowa State and sixth seeded North Carolina will both do their best to upset the Wildcats.
"This is refreshing," Tigers senior guard Michael Dixon Jr. said. "This is the tournament that 360-odd-some teams play for. We've got a lot of veteran guys that have played major minutes in the NCAA Tournament, so I think we're going to be ready."
The Tigers fell out of the AP Top-25 poll for the first time this season on Monday. The drop came on the heels of a lopsided loss to Connecticut in the American Conference Tournament.
The American failed to receive the respect from the selection committee that most analysts and coaches figured it would.
Southern Methodist University didn't receive a bid after being ranked in the top 25. The omission dumbfounded many television analysts and coaches alike.
Four teams from the American, including Memphis, received bids: fourth-seeded Louisville, seventh-seeded UConn and fifth-seeded Cincinnati.
Pastner said he knew Memphis was going to receive a lower seed when Louisville was named a four seed.
The draw pleased Memphis' senior forward David Pellom, who transferred to Memphis from George Washington last summer. Both Pastner and Dixon said Pellom was ecstatic when the matchup rolled across the screen.
Dixon said the Tigers have no time to relax, and they have bring their best each game because it could be their last.
"Like I told Chris (Crawford) we're literally playing for our life," Dixon said. "That's how we got to treat it. We just got to go out there and do what we've been doing well."
Tipoff is slated for Friday at 5:55 p.m. TBS plans to televise the game nationally.
Senior guard Geron Johnson was confident in the Tigers' chances before the bracket was ever even announced.
"We will win two games next week," Johnson said after the loss to UConn. "I got faith in my team. We can play with anybody in the country. I know coach doesn't like that, but we're going to get to the drawing board and we are going to work hard, and you can put my name by that."
