Northern Kentucky heading to the dance in 1st year of eligibility

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That didn't take long.

Northern Kentucky became just the eighth team to reach the NCAA tournament in its first year of eligibility after defeating Milwaukee in the Horizon League final. The Norse joined Division I in 2012, but only became eligible this year.

Best win: Northern Kentucky avenged an earlier loss to Valparaiso by knocking off the 24-8 Crusaders in the final game of the regular season. That triumph certainly appeared to give the Norse some confidence, as John Brannen's team rolled to three straight victories after that en route to a Horizon League crown.

Season summary: Northern Kentucky's 24 wins marked an impressive turnaround from a season ago, when they finished a meager 9-21. Though the Norse struggled against tougher opponents, losing handily to Illinois and West Virginia, they rebounded to have a strong finish to the campaign.

Winners of 10 of their past 11 games, the Norse come into the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the nation and will be hoping to ride that momentum to a first-round upset. To do so, Northern Kentucky will have to rely on forward Drew McDonald, who leads the team in both points (16.4) and rebounds per game (7.7).

McDonald has posted 23-plus points in three of his past five games and scored 14 while adding 12 rebounds in the Horizon final. He'll likely need a similar performance if Northern Kentucky hopes to avoid a short stay in the tourney.