The Pacific Tigers find out they will face the second seeded Miami Hurricanes in the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday.
STOCKTON, CA - Less than 24 hours after dropping UC Irvine to win the Big West Title, the Pacific Tigers learned they will face one of college basketball's hottest teams - the Atlantic Coast Champion Miami Hurricanes.
Miami (27-6), who defeated North Carolina in the ACC Championship earlier in the day will meet the Tigers (22-12) in the Second Round of the East Region in Austin, TX on Friday at 11:10 a.m. and will be televised on TNT.
The Tigers men's basketball team were joined by about 100 cheerleaders, alumni, boosters and fans in the Pacific Alumni House on campus on Selection Sunday afternoon.
Sighs of relief were heard as potential opponents and second seeds like Duke and Georgetown were announced against other schools. Many predicted that the Tigers would likely face those schools rather than the Hurricanes.
As the selection of Miami was announced by the CBS selection show, the room burst into a swell of celebration.
This season will mark the end for retiring head coach Bob Thomason, who has led the Tigers to five of the school's six tournament births. They last appeared in the NCAA tournament in 2006.
Thomason has been with Pacific as head coach for 25 seasons.
By Sean Cunningham, SCunningham@News10.net
Twitter: @News10Sean
News10/KXTV