March 16, 2008

Spokane, Wash. - The Gonzaga University men's basketball team (25-7) was awarded the seventh seed in the Detroit/Midwest Regional as the NCAA announced pairings for this season's NCAA Tournament Sunday.

The Bulldogs will face No. 10 seed Davidson College (26-6) Friday at 9:25 a.m. PT at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.

Friday's meeting between the Zags and Wildcats will be the first time the two schools have met on the hardwood.

Davidson, who enters the tournament leading the nation with a 22-game win streak, earned the Southern Conference automatic bid after finishing with a 26-6 overall record and 20-0 mark in league play. The Wildcats will be making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2002 season and their 10th appearance overall. All-time, Davidson has posted a 5-10 record in NCAA play, including an 82-70 loss to the University of Maryland in the first round last season.

This season marks Gonzaga's 10th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its 11th appearance overall. The Zags earned the West Coast Conference regular season title this season before falling at the University of San Diego, 69-62, in the conference championship game.

This season also marks the first time in program history that the Bulldogs have been awarded a seventh seed in the field of 65 teams. It also marks Gonzaga's first tournament appearance in Raleigh.

The winner of the Gonzaga/Davidson game will play the winner for the Georgetown University/University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) game Sunday. Georgetown (27-5) is seeded No. 2 after receiving an at-large bid from the Big East Conference. UMBC (24-8) is seeded No. 15 after winning the America East Conference Tournament.

The other pod in Raleigh is the overall No. 1 seed University of North Carolina meeting the winner of the play-in game between Mount Saint Mary's University and Coppin State University, followed by No. 8 Indiana University and No. 9 the University of Arkansas. The winner of that pod will advance to the East Regional in Charlotte, N.C.

The University of Kansas (31-3) was awarded the No. 1 seed in the Detroit Region with the University of Wisconsin (29-4) as the No. 3 seed, Vanderbilt University (26-7) as the No. 4 seed and Clemson University (24-9) rounding out the top five seeds as No. 5.

Information regarding NCAA Tournament tickets will be released later this evening.