WACO, Texas (KXXV) — Baylor men's basketball is ready to set sail for North Carolina for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bears get ready for a tough challenge in Mississippi State and have embraced being the underdog after being on the bubble of making the tournament.
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"That being the ninth seed, you're not the higher seed and if you win you're probably playing the number one seed you're not the higher so all tournament long you're gonna be the underdog," said head coach, Scott Drew.
"We're definitely still the hunted, but I think we're more of the hunters now, just seeing everything that we've been through this year, " senior Jeremy Roach said.
Baylor has multiple freshman that have taken center stage and this will be the their first experience with the NCAA Tournament.
"It is always better to have more experience than less going into a tournament and hopefully with Norchad and Jeremy's Final Four experience, with the guys on our team that have been there," Drew said.
"Super excited it's gonna be our first chance, playing in March Madness, so that's, I mean, it's a big accomplishment for a freshman and playing in Kansas City definitely helped," freshman Robert O. Wright III said.
There's also the opportunity in the region for players on the team like Jeremy Roach to face his old team in Duke in a future round.
"When I seen the match up on me it was just I kind of laughed — everybody started looking at me
, a couple people texted me and some of the coaches just like, give me like the eye emoji. It's just it's exciting but we just gotta take it one game at a time and then see where everything lies," Roach said.
Baylor takes on Mississippi State on Friday, March 21 at 11:15 a.m.
