Watching the “NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Selection Show” is almost like watching lottery numbers being announced. Most of the teams selected for the field of 68 already know they are going to appear on the bracket, but finding out what seed they will be, who their first opponent will be and where they will play, lends more excitement to the program then any reality show can.

CBS has been broadcasting the entire selection announcement live, since 1982. It is quite a production as each slot on the bracket is revealed, and live video is fed from the named school’s watch party. The NCAA Selection Committee keeps all of this secret and the folks at CBS don’t receive the completed bracket until about 15 minutes to an hour before going on the air. In fact, the Selection Committee’s bracket is kept more secure than many classified government documents.

“Obviously everything is live, everything is in real time,” CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said. “And boy is it fun, after the bracket is out, to sit there and program which announcers are going to go where, and which games are going to be on CBS, TNT, TruTV, and TBS. It’s a Rubik’s Cube: You sit there and put it together on Sunday night. There’s nothing like it in sports television.”

The show itself provides excitement, suspense, heartbreak, and joy for the 15 or so “bubble” teams, whose fate is solely left in the hands of the selection committee.

Millions of fans from around the country were watching on Sunday evening to find out where their team will play in the tournament, and like all of them, I was right there, glued to my television waiting to find out where the ORU Golden Eagles would be playing. I’m that way every year, but this year had a bit more importance to me, as I will be heading to Orlando with ORU Pep Band to play at the games and support our team.

As soon as the bracket is announced, that’s when things get crazy. Fans from all over are booking flights and hotel rooms. Those of us with ORU (a No. 12 seed) were waiting to hear when our flight would leave, where we would be staying, and what will be the tipoff time for the first-round game against No. 5 seed Duke, at the Amway Center in Orlando. We have found out the game will be Thursday evening at 6:10 p.m. CDT. I’m looking forward to performing in the Amway Center, home of the Orlando Magic. I’ve been to Orlando many times, but have never been inside that arena.

Generally, the NCAA provides a charter plan for each team that is further than a short drive to their tournament site. As with ORU, those on the charter will be more than just the basketball team and coaches; athletic department staff, cheer squad members, and of course the Pep Band will also be on board.

I’ll admit, it will be nice to spend at least a couple days in the warmer climate of Central Florida, and I’m sure I’ll have plenty to write about next week. Here’s hoping ORU can upset Duke in the first round and make a deep run in the tournament.

OSU IN NIT

One of the surprises of a “bubble” team that was left out of the NCAA Tournament is the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

OSU beat OU (15-17, 5-13 Big 12) in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, 57-49, but then lost to Texas in the quarterfinals, 61-47.

The Cowboys with an 18-15 overall record, and 8-10 in the Big 12, was not good enough in the eyes of the NCAA Selection Committee to give OSU an at-large bid to the National Tournament.

However, OSU was selected to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) for the 13th time in program history. The Cowboys were named a No. 1 seed in the NIT and was set to face Youngstown State, Wednesday night, as this newspaper was being delivered.

This is Oklahoma State’s first appearance in the NIT since 2018 when the Cowboys went 2-1 with wins over Florida Gulf Coast and Stanford before falling to Western Kentucky.

OSU is 9-13 all-time in the postseason tournament. For more information on the Cowboys, follow at okstate.com.