UC San Diego will play the Big Ten Tournament champion Michigan Wolverines in their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, while San Diego State was one of the last four teams to make the Big Dance.

The Tritons, who defeated UC Irvine in the Big West Conference title game on Saturday to claim an automatic berth, are seeded 12th in the South Region. They’ll take on the 5th-seeded Wolverines Thursday in Denver. 

UCSD has won its last 15 games in a row and take a 30-4 record to the tournament in their first year of eligibility after moving up to Division I in 2020. 

Michigan defeated Wisconsin Sunday to win the Big Ten tournament and reach the NCAA tournament in their first year under head coach Dusty May, who was the head coach of the Florida Atlantic team that lost to SDSU in the national semifinal in 2023.

The Aztecs will play a First Four matchup against North Carolina Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio. The winner of that game will be the 11 seed in the South Region and will advance to play 6th-seeded Ole Miss. 

SDSU had been firmly on the bubble after losing three of their final six games, including Thursday’s loss to Boise State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament. Boise State would go on to lose in the championship game to Colorado State and miss the NCAA tournament.

Tip-off for SDSU-UNC is set for 6:10 p.m. Tuesday and will be broadcast on truTV. UCSD-Michigan is scheduled to tip at approximately 7 p.m. Thursday and can be seen on TBS.