Let the Madness begin: NCAA First Four tips off tonight on TSN.ca, TSN App

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — The First Four is back in Dayton for the first time in three seasons, and the selection committee made sure there will be extra excitement in the building by dropping a local team into the play-in mix.

One of the things the NCAA likes about the University of Dayton Arena is that, no matter who is playing, fans will fill it up for all four games and help put on a good show for a national TV audience hungry for March Madness.

Watch both First Four games Tuesday starting at 6pm ET/3pm PT. on TSN.ca and the TSN App.

This time, the First Four will have an unofficial home team in Wright State, whose own basketball arena is just 15 minutes across town.

The Horizon League tournament champion Raiders (21-13), making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance, play Bryant (22-9) in the early game Wednesday, before Rutgers takes on Notre Dame.

The Tuesday slate will feature Indiana, which returns to the tournament for the first time since 2016 and in the first season with a new coach, Mike Woodson. The Hoosiers (20-13) face a Wyoming team from the Mountain West that finished 25-8 and, like Indiana, earned an at-large bid.

The Hoosiers’ five-year absence — not including 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the tournament — was the longest since they were out of it from 1968-72.

“Honestly, Coach Woodson to me has just brought a light,” Hoosiers forward Trayce Jackson-Davis said. “I feel like Indiana basketball has been in the darkness for so long now.”

Indiana wasn’t stellar during the season but got on a roll, beating Michigan and upsetting top-seeded Illinois in the Big Ten tournament before losing to eventual champion Iowa by three in the semifinal round.

The Cowboys are back for the first time since 2015,