BYU has been granted an at-large bid to the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The 25-8 Cougars were awarded with a 14 seed, and will play 14-seeded Iona (25-7) in a play-in game in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday, March 13th. The game is scheduled to tip at 7:10 pm MT and will air on TruTV. The winner advances to play 3-seed Marquette in Louisville, Kentucky on Thursday, March 15th.
The Iona Gaels are a surprise at-large bid into the tournament, and boast Scott Machado, the nation's leading assist man with 10 assists per game. Of note, President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron are slated to be in attendance in Dayton on Tuesday.
The bid marks BYU's sixth-straight NCAA tournament bid, coinciding with the six-straight years of 25 wins or more. Last year marked the first time since 1981 that BYU was able to advance past the second round. The Cougars currently hold the mark for most NCAA tournament bids (26) without a Final Four appearance.
BYU and Iona were slated as the very last two teams invited to the tournament. Notable bubble teams over which BYU was selected include Washington, Marshall, and Drexel. Upon announcement of the matchup, CBS Sports bracket guru Jerry Palm suspected that the two may have been moved down a seed in order to get BYU in a Thursday/Saturday bracket.
Stay tuned to Vanquish The Foe for full coverage of BYU's NCAA Tournament run.
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