Celebrating a 29-4 season capped with a Sun Belt Conference championship, fans on Tuesday sent off the University of Arkansas-Little Rock men's basketball team to play in its first NCAA tournament since 2011.
The team and fans gathered outside the Jack Stephens Arena in Little Rock, where the Trojans went undefeated this season.
A pep band played for the small early-morning crowd assembled to watch the team get on the bus taking it to the airport en route to Denver, where UALR will face off as a No. 12 seed against 5th-seeded Purdue Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
John McIntyre, a 23-year-old senior, and Elvis Mull, a 20-year-old sophomore who serves as an announcer at home games, said they were hoping Little Rock would become one of 2016's "Cinderella teams."
"We're right up there with the best of them," McIntyre said. "I have them in the Sweet 16 in my bracket and I'm confident in that."
East Asian History Professor Jeff Kyong-McClain said he and his son, Owen, have been fans of the team for years, including the last time the Trojans played in the tournament in 2011.
This season is different, Kyong-McClain said, because the team built excitement throughout the season, instead of a surprise victory in the Sun Belt Tournament.
However, the professor said he and his students will miss Thursday's matchup against Purdue because they will be flying to a study-abroad program in Gyeongju, South Korea.
"If they win [against Purdue], I'll get as many students as I can and find a place to watch the next round in Gyeongju," Kyong-McClain said.
.@UALR basketball fans send of the team this morning. Headed to Denver to play @BoilerBall in NCAA tournament. pic.twitter.com/T90hRKOwrh
— John Moritz (@JohnMoritz18) March 15, 2016