LAKE CHARLES – For the second-year-in-a-row the McNeese Cowboys will be dancing as the No. 12 seed, but this time, will travel east to Providence, Rhode Island where they will go up against a very familiar school to head coach Will Wade and assistant Vernon Hamilton – the Clemson Tigers, in the first round on Thursday.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. and the game will broadcast live on TruTV with Andrew Catalon (play-by-play), Steve Lappas (analyst) and Evan Washburn (reporter) calling the game.
 
The Southland Conference champion Cowboys (27-6) and No. 5-seeded Clemson (27-6), the second-place team in the ACC, are will meet for the first time.
 
The winner will take on the winner between No. 13-seeded High Point and fourth-seed Purdue on Saturday.
 
McNeese clinched a berth in its second-straight tournament after defeating Lamar, 63-54, in the Southland Conference Tournament championship on Wednesday.
 
It marks the first time the Cowboys will appear in the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years while making their fourth overall appearance. It also matches last year's seed as the highest in school history.
 
The matchup with Clemson will be extra special for Coach Wade and Hamilton, both who are Clemson graduates.
 
Wade is a 2005 graduate of Clemson and spent his undergrad as a team manager then as a graduate assistant coach (2005-06) and Director of Operations (2006-07).
 
Hamilton played for the Tigers from 2003-07 and earned All-ACC Defensive Team honors in 2006 while leading the conference with 2.68 steals per game that season. And he continues to hold the school record for most steals in a season (83 in 2005-06) and in a career (271 (2003-07). He's also tied for the school record for most games started in a season (36 in 2006-07). He earned his degree in 2007.
 
Clemson was ranked 10^th in the latest AP Top 25 poll with the Cowboys receiving one vote.
 
McNeese will enter the tournament on an 11-game winning streak, tied with Duke as the 4^th-longest in the NCAA.