March 10, 2002

INDIANAPOLIS - The No. 6 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs will open the 2002 NCAA Tournament with a first-round match-up against the University of Wyoming. The Bulldogs were given a six seed in the West Region despite a 29-3 record and No. 6 national ranking. Gonzaga and No. 11 seed Wyoming will meet on Thursday at The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Times for all games will be released by CBS later tonight.

Wyoming finished the season as the regular season champions of the Mountain West Conference. The Cowboys finished with a 21-8 record and were knocked out of the Mountain West Conference Tournament in the semifinals by San Diego State University.

This will be the fourth meeting between Gonzaga and Wyoming with the Bulldogs owning a 2-1 series advantage. The two schools last met in 1998 when the Bulldogs defeated the Cowboys, 69-55, in the first round of the 1998 NIT Tournament, the last year Gonzaga did not make the NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga is only one of three schools to advance to the Sweet 16 each of the last three seasons joining 2000 National Champion Michigan State and 2001 National Champion Duke in that prestigious category.

Also in Gonzaga's four team pod will be No. 3 seed University of Arizona and No. 14 seed University of California-Santa Barbara. Arizona won the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament title this season while UC Santa Barbara won the Big West Conference Tournament to advance to the field of 65. Other games in Albuquerque will include No. 4 seed Ohio State University against No. 13 seed Davidson University and No. 5 seed University of Miami (Fla.) against No. 12 seed University of Missouri.

The University of Cincinnati was selected as the No. 1 seed in the West Region playing its four team pod in Pittsburgh. The University of Oklahoma was selected as the No. 2 seed in the West Region and will play its four team pod in Dallas.

Ticket and travel information will be available on the Gonzaga University athletic website as soon as it becomes available. Start times for each game will also be announced once they are released by CBS.

2002 NCAA TOURNAMENT

WEST REGION

at Pittsburgh, PA
No. 1 Cincinnati vs. No. 16 Boston University
No. 8 UCLA vs. No. 9 Mississippi

at Albuquerque, NM
No. 5 Miami (Fla.) vs. No. 12 Missouri
No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 13 Davidson

at Albuquerque, NM
No. 6 Gonzaga vs. No. 11 Wyoming
No. 3 Arizona vs. No. 14 UC Santa Barbara

at Dallas, TX
No. 7 Xavier vs. No. 10 Hawai'i
No. 2 Oklahoma vs. Illinois-Chicago