March 15, 2009

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After a five-year hiatus, it was announced on Sunday that the University of Dayton men's basketball team will return to the NCAA Tournament as an 11 seed. The Flyers will play the sixth-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers on March 20 in Minneapolis. The game is slated for 30 minutes following the Kansas/North Dakota State contest, and the Flyers will tip off at approximately 3 p.m. ET.

It will be the school's 14th NCAA appearance and first since 2004, as Dayton's 26-7 overall record held enough weight to earn the Flyers an at-large berth. UD failed to capture the Atlantic 10's automatic bid, which was won by Temple on Saturday, but its overall resume was strong enough to put the squad into the 65 team bracket.

The A-10 will have three representatives in the national tournament, with Xavier also earning an at-large bid.

It was also announced on Sunday which teams will be playing at UD Arena over the next week. The arena will host seven NCAA Tournament games, which will further the facility's reputation as a prolific NCAA venue. After next weekend, UD Arena will have hosted 82 NCAA Tournament games - the second most for any venue in the nation.

The opening round game, scheduled for Tuesday night, will feature Alabama State and Morehead State. The winner of that contest will square off with the No. 1 seeded Louisville Cardinals on Friday. With No. 1 Pittsburgh also assigned to play Eastern Tennessee State University in Dayton on Friday, UD Arena will be the only hosting facility to have two top seeds in town.

The other games at UD Arena will be match-ups between eight and nine seeds. Oklahoma State and Tennessee will play a first round game in Dayton, as will Ohio State and Siena.

The winners of those games will play in the second round of the tournament on Sunday, March 22.