Grambling State University is going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever, and it now knows who it will face in the First Four.
GSU will face Montana State, the Big Sky Conference Champion, in Dayton, OH in the Midwest Regional. The winner of the game will face no. 1 seed Purdue in the Round of 64.
Grambling State knocked off three-time defending conference tournament champion Texas Southern in the SWAC title game on Saturday night to punch its bid to the NCAA Tournament. GSU won the NAIA title in 1961 with Willis Reed, but had never won the SWAC Tournament since its inception.
GSU is 20-14 overall, 14-4 against competition in the SWAC. SWAC teams have multiple wins in the First Four, including several by Texas Southern, whom GSU took down on Saturday.
Montana State is 17-17 after winning three games in a row to claim its conference championship, knocking off Weber State, Sacramento State and rival Montana to take home the Big Sky Crown. Robert Ford III is the team’s leading scorer at just under 16 points per game. However, three of its players average double figures.