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The New Mexico Lobos earned a No. 10 seed for the NCAA tournament and they have been shipped off to play No. 10 seed in St. Louis on Friday March 21. Getting into the tournament was a mere formality for the Lobos as they won the Mountain West tournament, and all that was up in the air was the seeding for New Mexico.
A six seed was thought to be a possibility for the Lobos, but a seven seed is fine, especially since it takes them away from playing a top seed in the second round.
If New Mexico manages to win their game, they will face the winner of No. 2 seeded Kansas and No. 15 Eastern Kentucky, and play on Sunday March 23. If the Lobos face Kansas that will be a rematch from a game earlier this season which was a blowout win for the Jayhawks.
The Lobos went 3-1 vs. the RPI top-50 by defeating San Diego State twice plus also a win over Cincinnati and a loss against San Diego State. Against the rest of the top-100 teams New Mexico split with Boise State, defeated Marquette and New Mexico State.
New Mexico is led by Alex Kirk and Cameron Bairstow, plus Kendall Williams. The strength is clearly getting the ball inside to Kirk and Bairstow, and both are also capable of hitting the outside shot, too. The Lobos are also a great rebounding team and play a strong brand of half court defense. They do struggle some shooting ball and playing extremely athletic teams, but they did beat San Diego State twice and they are full of athletes.
Here is the full NCAA tournament bracket:
