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Kansas State gets No. 2 seed in West with Syracuse as first seed
Published 3/15/2010 in Sports
MANHATTAN (AP) — The "firsts" and "bests" keep piling up for Kansas State.
In the same year that Frank Martin fashioned the best three-year record of any Kansas State coach, the resurgent Wildcats have nabbed their highest seeding in any NCAA tournament.
Seeded No. 2 in the West region, they will meet No. 15 North Texas in the first round on Thursday.
And, just as they had hoped, the Wildcats (26-7) will play their opening weekend in Oklahoma City, an easy drive for fans who've been jamming Bramlage Coliseum with record crowds.
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Associated Press Kansas State seniors Chris Merriewether, right, Luis Colon, second from right and Denis Clemente, third from right, celebrate with teammates Sunday while watching the NCAA college basketball tournament selection show in Manhattan. Kansas State, the No. 2 seed in the West, is scheduled to face North Texas on Thursday in Oklahoma City.
"I'm ecstatic for our kids and I'm glad that they were rewarded for all their efforts this year by being able to play as close to home as possible," said Martin, who outpolled Kansas' Bill Self in balloting for Big 12 coach of the year. "I'm just happy we're in Oklahoma City."
Kansas State had made 23 NCAA appearances before, and never been seeded higher than fourth. But led by the high-scoring guard tandem of Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, the Wildcats finished runner-up to No. 1 Kansas — the overall top seed — in both the Big 12 tournament and the regular season.
And that's no small feat considering the Big 12 got seven teams altogether into the 65-team field.
"That's what this league deserves," said Martin. "I'm just so happy we don't have to play any of them any more. I'm tired of beating ourselves up against them."
"All those other teams are good," he added. "Florida's good, BYU's good, North Texas is good. There's not going to be an easy game on the schedule."
The hours leading up to the selection announcement had a different feel for Kansas State players and fans this year. Unlike past years, they knew they were assured of a bid.
"It's not the nerves where you're worried about getting into the tournament. It's the jitters of who we get and where we're going to play," said Pullen. "Right after that, it's just a sigh of relief. Now it's time to get back in the gym and prepare for the second season."
The Wildcats have not played North Texas since 2001.
If there was one little thing grating on K-Staters it may have been what little conversation was devoted to them on the CBS selection show.
"It's their choice," said Pullen. "They pick who they like. It's doesn't bother us. We're in, we get a chance to go play a team. We've just got to go handle our business.
"Now it's just an opportunity to show people that we can really compete," Pullen added. "Hopefully we get a lot of fans. It's not that far away from Kansas and I hope people get up and make that drive or fly, whatever they've got to do. Hopefully we can turn it from a neutral site to basically a home facility."
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