St. Louis ? Towering over the Mississippi River in awe-inspiring elliptical splendor stands the Gateway Arch, the signature attraction of St. Louis, the city where westward expansion began.

Right now, though, St. Louis wants to reverse that trend. They’re literally begging Kansans to come east on Saturday and watch the Jayhawks play in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

To tell the truth, I’m not sure I’ve heard such a plea before. Usually, KU is sent to a broom closet arena  like Dayton last year  that had been sold out months in advance.

Even in domed stadiums, tickets have been at a premium. You couldn’t find a ticket, for example, to the NCAA Midwest Regional at the Alamodome last March in San Antonio. Or at the Louisiana Superdome a few years ago.

But the Edward Jones Dome, home of the NFL St. Louis Rams football team and known in these parts as The Ed, has about 15,000 seats remaining at $20, $40 and $50 a pop.

Tournament officials are trumpeting “good seats are available.”

Depends on how you define good. Based on what I saw during Thursday’s first-round games, a majority of the available seats are so high you may smell ozone. I saw some bodies up there, but I’m not sure if they were human beings or mountain goats.

Surely the $50 seats won’t require binoculars, but do you want to drive nearly five hours just to watch a game you can see on television? It’s a tough call, but I must point out that Saturday’s session will feature a bonus  an opportunity to raise the decibel level for Tulsa in the Golden Hurricane’s attempt to knock off tradition-rich Kentucky.

Everybody loves a David-Goliath matchup, and this one has the extra added attraction of pitting a team (Kentucky) nobody loves  at least in Kansas  against a team (Tulsa) everyone has a crush on.

This is the same Tulsa outfit Kansas had a difficult time dispatching in its last game of 2001. On Dec. 29 in Kemper Arena, the Jayhawks outlasted the surprising Hurricane, 93-85, thanks to Drew Gooden’s 25 points and 16 rebounds.

On that night, Tulsa’s three smallish guards  Antonio Reed and Dante Swanson, both 5-foot-10, and 6-2 Greg Harrington  combined for 65 of the Hurricane’s 85 points. On Thursday afternoon, those three watchcharm guards were again factors as the No. 12 seed Hurricane stunned Marquette, a No. 5 seed, 71-69, in The Ed.

Those who would dismiss the Hurricane because of their lack of size may be doomed, Marquette coach Tom Crean warned afterward.

“They are by far the quickest team we’ve faced all year,” Crean said. “I’m not sure I’d want to be matched up with them in this tournament in the near future.”

Meanwhile, TU coach John Phillips smiled and quipped: “The scary part for a coach when you put a bunch of midgets out there is having them guard the other team, but I learned they have to guard us as well.”

So y’all come. Cheer for Tulsa in the 4:30 p.m. opener, then holler for the Jayhawks, who will need all the help they can get if Kirk Hinrich doesn’t make a miraculous recovery from his sprained ankle, in the 7 p.m.-ish nightcap.

Sure, the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce would love for you to stay overnight and spend more money at motels and restaurants, but if you leave right after the game you’ll be back in Lawrence in time to log plenty of zzzz’s before Sunday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.