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ST. LOUIS — Thursday's opening round of the NCAA Tournament brought some early upsets, including 12-seeds Yale and Arkansas-Little Rock with taking part in the near-annual tradition of a 12 seed dismantling a No. 5 seed.
Weber State hopes to continue that trend Friday. The 15th-seeded Wildcats (26-8) take on No. 2-seed Xavier (27-5) at 7:20 p.m. MT (TNT), and they have upsets on the brain.
After all, as every office co-worker will remind you daily: This is March.
"That gives us confidence, seeing a smaller seed beat a bigger seed," Wildcats guard Jeremy Senglin said. "But that's another team; Yale's their team, and we're us.
"We've just got to believe in ourselves, or we're nothing."
This year's field of 68 is left bereft of an undefeated team, making everyone at least a little bit beatable, Big Sky player of the year Joel Bolomboy added.
"It gives us a little more confidence," said Bolomboy, who is Weber State's all-time leader in blocked shots and the Big Sky's all-time rebounding leader. "Every team in this tournament can lose at any given moment, so we've just got to come in and be ready to play."
Weber State coach Randy Rahe doesn't hide early upset results from his players, either. He knows his Wildcats are a decided underdog against Xavier, the Big East's top rebounding team.
It's all part of the magic of March.
"I love it when our kids are watching that, and following it," Rahe said. "All the talk before the tournament starts and before the game, and you're this big of an underdog. But once they tip that ball up, there are two teams playing basketball — and anything can happen."
NCAA Bid
Weber State draws Xavier in NCAA Tournament's first round
Weber State men's basketball didn't have to wait to see if it would get into the NCAA Tournament. <br> The Wildcats learned their first-round opponent Sunday when the bracket was revealed. <br> No. 15 seed Weber State will face No. 2 seed Xavier at 7:20 p.m. MT Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis.The Musketeers also know upsets happen, so they'll be on alert with the Wildcats, junior Myles Davis said.
"I think we'd be crazy to overlook Weber State," he added. "They won their conference championship, and they're a very, very good team. We're going to treat Weber State like we treat every team ... stick to what we do, play our basketball, and we'll be all right."
