Photo by Wayne Tilcock / Aggie

What better a place to start March Madness than The Grad. But when the final decisions were rendered, there was little surprise at the outcome, yet the massive crowd gathered still broke into peals of applause.

Coming into the selection show, the ninth-ranked UCD men's team, ranked No. 1 in the West Region, felt its chances of hosting the NCAA West Regional Championships were 50-50 at best - so the team was pleasantly surprised.

"I was a little bit surprised, pleasantly surprised," UCD head coach Bob Williams said. "We're very excited and pleased to be hosting."

While the home court advantage is key for the Aggies, Williams stressed that it is meaningless without large crowds in attendance.

"It all depends on the students and the local people," Williams said. "If we get a crowd similar to Break the Record Night, then it will be a major home court advantage."

Post Justis Durkee agreed.

"It's great to be able to host, but it wouldn't have been a letdown not to," he said. "We can't let up just because the games are here."

Regardless of the setting, UCD players say they are just ready to dominate.

"We are relieved that we got the 'should haves' out of the way," wing Chris Vlasic said. "Everyone expected us to come in first in the (Northern California Athletic Conference) and be champions. Now it's about what we should not have done, winning the region and advancing to the Elite Eight - we're looking to break a lot of expectations."

The Aggies will host the winner of the Cal State Los Angeles-Grand Canyon University game Friday night at Recreation Hall.

Brian 'Indiana Aggie' Rocca, who heads the Aggie Pack, is certain that UCD will be well supported. With the men's Regional being hosted in Davis, The Graduate's meal deal of a glass of milk and three slices of bacon is no longer the best deal in town.

"This game has Aggie Pack written all over it," Rocca said. "Expect nothing else but bare chests, painted faces and a relentless crowd.

"They better tighten the bolts on the roof of (the) Rec Hall because the Pack is going to raise it Friday," he added.

While the men get to play in the friendly confines of the Rec Hall, the women's team must travel to the moist, hostile environment of Seattle Pacific University, the Northwest Region champion.

"We are relatively happy with the seeding," UCD women's head coach Jorja Hoehn said. "Obviously, we would rather be in a position to be a No. 1 or No. 2 seed and get a bye, but we are happy with the way we finished the season."

The Aggies are seeded third in the Regionals and will face Cal Poly-Pomona at Seattle Pacific on Thursday. UCD has handily defeated Pomona twice in preseason.

"They (Pomona) are a tough team and it will be exciting to play them," forward Kristen Coolidge said. "It's an advantage for us because we know their personnel."

If the Aggies get past Pomona, they will face Seattle Pacific, a team that soundly defeated them during preseason.

"We haven't forgotten about the loss to Seattle Pacific here at home," said Hoehn. "Having won our last six games is good momentum into the postseason and we would like to play them and San Bernardino.