UC Irvine Heads To NCAA Tournament With Cinderella Dreams

IRVINE, CA —UC Irvine, the champions of the Big West, headed north on a charter bus Wednesday before crowds of friends and fans. All are hoping for an upset as the lucky 13th ranked UC Irvine Anteaters meet up with the Kansas State Jayhawks in San Jose, Friday.

Tipoff is 11 a.m. March 22, and with the NCAA Tournament just a hop, skip, and a jump away, tickets are still available to the game at SAP Center.

Coach Rus Turner thanked all for coming out and told the crowd "we might be gone for a while."

Many have already booked tickets for the only SoCal team going to the NCAA Tournament. Others are still on the fence.

The Anteaters, in the 13th seed, compete against the 4th seed Kansas State team, with a long history of making the Final Four, but this is March Madness, and stranger things have happened.

The Irvine boys know they have a lot of work to do to make it to the next round, but by their demeanor and excitement, all were ready to give it that old college try.

Real fans can hop a flight from John Wayne Airport to San Jose for just over $200, or you can always trek north on the I-5 for that seven hour drive. If you do, we want to know about it!

How far does UC Irvine make it in your bracket? Let us know! And don't forget to find your tickets on Patch for a 10% discount with Promo Code: PatchTickets10.

Read: NCAA Tournament Round One: UC Irvine, Kansas State Tickets