UCLA, USC, Cal State Fullerton to represent SoCal in NCAA Tournament
Cal State Fullerton received a No. 15 seed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament and will face No. 2 seed Duke in a first-round game Friday in Greenville, South Carolina.
Joining Cal State Fullerton from Southern California is UCLA, who received a No. 4 seed, and USC, who was seeded 7th.
UCLA (25-7) will face 13th-seeded Akron in Portland Thursday. UCLA will try to follow up on last year's thrilling run, when it reached the Fina Four after barely making the tournament as a play-in.
USC (26-7) -- who made it to the Elite Eight last year for the first time since 2001 -- will face 10th-seeded Miami, also in Greenville. USC's roster includes players from last year's team, including Chevez Goodwin, who is from South Carolina.
Meanwhile, Cal State Fullerton (21-10) is the overall 62nd seed in the 68-team tournament.
Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, No. 2 seeds are 135-9 against No. 15 seeds in the first round, with Duke suffering one of the losses, 75-70, to Lehigh in 2012.
The Titans earned their first tournament berth since 2018 and fourth all-time with a 72-71 victory over Long Beach State in the final of the Big West Championship on Saturday night in Henderson, Nevada, overcoming a 14-point first-half deficit and not allowing the Beach to get off a shot on the game's final possession.
Both of Cal State Fullerton's NCAA tournament victories came in their first appearance, 1978.
This will also be the 36th and final time Duke's Mike Krzyzewski will coach in the tournament, breaking a tie with Syracuse's Jim Boeheim for most appearances by a coach. Krzyzewski holds the NCAA record with 97 NCAA tournament wins.