DAYTON, OHIO — Breakfast on the bus, lunch at the airport, tape of the opponent waiting at the hotel counter. Getting to the NCAA play-in game was almost as hard as getting into the tournament itself.
Northwestern State and Winthrop finally made it Monday, just in time to earn a little share of NCAA Tournament history that neither really wanted.
Tonight, No. 64 will play No. 65 for a chance to face No. 1 Illinois three days later.
"Coach told us at our last practice that we were probably going to be in it," Winthrop forward Derrick Knox said. "It's a little disappointing, being a player."
All of the NCAA floor decals and banners couldn't hide the downside to the tournament's opening game. It's nothing like all the rest that will follow.
By the time they arrived at the University of Dayton Arena, the two lowest seeds in the tournament had figured that out.
Most practices before opening games draw hundreds of fans. When Northwestern State guard Michael Edwards led his purple-shirted teammates onto the court Monday night, the arena was as silent as a library and the ushers outnumbered the fans.
It was the same for Winthrop, which arrived only 25 minutes before its scheduled workout. Nine fans sat in the stands and watched the 50-minute workout.
"Hopefully we can play in front of a big crowd tomorrow and have a great experience, something we've always dreamed of," Northwestern State guard Ryan Duplessis said.
The first 40 minutes of the tournament is being pre-empted by "60 Minutes II." CBS is carrying its usual prime-time programs, leaving the play-in game to TNN.
About 6,000 tickets have been sold, roughly half the capacity of UD Arena. Neither team was able to bring many fans because of the tough time arranging travel.
Faced with a shrinking number of at-large bids, the NCAA decided to expand the tournament to 65 teams this year. The two worst teams in the draw were matched in a play-in that had only a fraction of the trappings and many times the headaches of a regular NCAA Tournament game.
Winthrop has an RPI of 188, worst in the 65-team field. Northwestern State has the third-worst at 169 N.C.-Greensboro is at 177.
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