The Vermont Catamounts have looked like a serious contender for an NCAA Tournament bid for most of the season, while things looked dim for the Lamar Cardinals less than a month ago. Following a loss to Stephen F. Austin, first-year coach Pat Knight called out his seniors, going so far as to say that they were the worst group of seniors that he had ever seen and that some of them used drugs. Since that rant on February 22, Lamar has not lost.
Vermont's run to the NCAA Tournament was a bit more quiet, though they got into the tournament in spectacular fashion. They finished second in the America East behind Stony Brook, who they split with during the regular season. They defeated Hartford in the semifinals of the America East Tournament, then beat Stony Brook in their arena to capture the conference's automatic bid.
The winner of the First Four game between Lamar and Vermont goes on to face the Midwest region's No. 1 seed, the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, March 14, 6:40 p.m. ET
Venue: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
TV: truTV
Announcers: Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel and Lewis Johnson
For more on the Catamounts, head to Unranked America East. For more coverage from this end of the bracket, keep it on our NCAA Tournament Midwest Region StoryStream. Stick around SB Nation's NCAA Tournament hub for a complete printable NCAA Tournament bracket and more.