Canes Get 3-Seed In NCAA Tournament, Will Play Buffalo
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- The Hurricanes are going dancing.
Miami's basketball team was picked as a number 3 seed in this year's NCAA Tournament after one of their best seasons in program history.
"Your basketball career, the culmination of all your work, you get a chance to show what you can do during March Madness. The big dance is where you want to be dancing and you want to dance a lot," said Head Coach Jim Larranaga.
How did the Canes react to their No. 3-seed selection? Awesomely. #LetsDancehttps://t.co/UhR7uZv32A
— Canes Hoops (@CanesHoops) March 13, 2016
The fans are ready for Miami's opening round game against Buffalo. The Rathskeller on UM's campus was packed for Sunday's watch party -- and the Canes can feel the love.
"I'm a local guy so it's great to know the community is enjoying it as well. They're excited about it. We had a lot of support here just to watch the selection. I would have never thought we'd have fans -- not even watching a game -- just watching the selection," said senior guard Angel Rodriguez.
Miami missed the tournament in 2015. Last year, they had to settle for the consolation of the NIT Tournament -- a sour taste they're happy to get rid of.
"Just thinking about last year and how our name wasn't called. Today, our name was called pretty quick. I'm glad we kind of got it out of the way quick," said Sheldon McClellan, the team's leading scorer.
"It was a great feeling. You could see the guys dancing and cheering. It was an awesome feeling because we know it's going to be so much fun and we're just going to play loose," said center Tonye Jekiri.
Anyone who watches knows these guys can cut it loose -- now they'll see if they have what it takes to cut down the nets.
"Whether you're a 1-seed, 2-seed, 3-seed, 4-seed, or an 11-seed -- you want to try to win the National Championship," said Larranaga. "That's what we're going to try to do during these next three weeks. You have to win six games. You have to take them one at a time and you've got to play great in every one of them."
Need another look at the reaction from the #SelectionSunday watch party?
We've got a birds-eye view #LetsDancehttps://t.co/hSvkkJEOA2
— Canes Hoops (@CanesHoops) March 14, 2016