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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Location, location, location.

That's not just a realtor's catchy mantra, it also applies to the NCAA Tournament.

Named to the 68-player field for a program-record fourth consecutive year, the Baylor Bears (25-7) are seeded third in the East Region and will face 14th-seeded New Mexico State (28-5) at 11:40 a.m. Friday at the Pan American Center in Tulsa, Okla.

"I'm really excited about Tulsa," said Baylor coach Scott Drew. "Whoever you play, you're not going to be as excited about. But the location, especially after going to Providence (R.I.) last year and Jacksonville (Fla.) before that, being closer so our fans can hopefully drive there, that's huge. I'm very excited about that."

Compared to the last two years, when the Bears suffered first-round upsets to Yale in Providence (1,822 miles from Waco) and Georgia State in Jacksonville (1,053 miles), the 352-mile trip to Tulsa has to seem like it's just around the corner.

"Since the last two years we went further away and lost, to me, it was all about location," said Drew, who is 8-6 in six previous NCAA Tournaments. "Being in Tulsa is the No. 1 thing we wanted. If Dallas had a site, or Austin or somewhere else, we would have loved to have even been closer. But, we got the closest sight, and that's great for our fans. And if you're thinking about coming, Baylor Nation, we need you there. So, please come up there."

The Bears are 12-6 versus the NCAA Tournament field, including non-conference wins over Louisville, Oregon, Michigan State, VCU, Florida Gulf Coast and Texas Southern. They are 5-5 all-time against New Mexico State, winning the only two meetings since 1981 - 66-55 in Waco on Dec. 17, 2014, and 85-70 in Waco on Dec. 23, 2015.

Under the guidance of first-year head coach Paul Weir, the Aggies have already posted the most wins in school history and captured their fifth WAC Tournament title in the last six years with a 70-60 win over top-seeded Cal State Bakersfield in Saturday's final.

"You're going to see a lot of athleticism, a lot of talented players," Drew said of NMSU, which is making its 23rd appearance in the NCAA Tournament with an all-time record of 10-24 and one trip to the Final Four in 1970.

"You're going to see a lot of players that athletically do a lot of things that are very exciting. Hopefully, they see it in warmups and not in the game, because we don't need any SportsCenter dunks against us. But, this is a really talented team and Coach Weir has done a tremendous job this year."

Senior guard Ian Baker, the WAC Player of the Year, averages 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists and leads a balanced attack that features three other players scoring at least 9.9 points per game.

Junior guard Braxton Huggins is second on the team with 13.6 points per game and has hit a team-high 86 3-pointers. Sophomore forward Eli Chuha is averaging 12.4 points and a team-best 9.0 rebounds, while 6-5 junior forward Jemerrio Jones(9.9 ppg, 8.5 rebounds) is a transfer from nearby Hill College who was named to the WAC All-Newcomer team.

Last year's team was led by 6-9 forward Pascal Siakam, the Aggies' first draft pick in 46 years, who was taken in the first round with the 27th pick overall by the Toronto Raptors. Siakam had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Baker had 21 points in the 85-70 loss to Baylor.

"Anyone that pops up, you know is a good team and they're well-coached," Drew said. "Coach Weir has done a tremendous job there. They've only lost a few times all year. More importantly than that, from our games with them in the past, we know they're very talented. And it's a team that traditionally has done well. That's why we've played them. RPI-wise, we always know they're going to be in the tournament and win a lot of games."

Baylor will have a distinct size advantage inside with 7-foot junior center Jo Lual-Acuil (9.2 ppg, 7.0 rebounds, 2.6 blocks) and 6-10 junior forward Johnathan Motley (17.3 ppg, 9.9 rebounds). Junior point guard Manu Lecomte missed the last two regular-season games with a sprained left ankle and played limited minutes in the Bears' 70-64 loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals.

"We just want to do this for Ish, it's his last run," Motley said of 6-5 senior forward Ishmail Wainright, who is averaging 5.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists. "I didn't like the way we sent out (Taurean Prince and Rico Gathers). Those guys are real close to me and real good friends. Ish is our captain, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure we send him out in a good way."

Wainright becomes the first player in program history to make four NCAA Tournament appearances.

"I'm extremely excited to make it four years in a row. Not too many people can say that, especially at Baylor," Wainright said. "We want to go as far as possible. We've got to focus, lock-in, don't take anyone for granted. It doesn't matter who we play, we've got to play like it's our last game. We've got to play like our backs are against the wall. We've got to play like we did at the beginning of the season."

The Baylor-New Mexico State winner advances to the second round to face either sixth-seeded SMU (30-4) or the winner of Tuesday's play-in game between Providence (20-12) and USC (24-9). SMU is riding a 16-game winning streak and beat Cincinnati, 71-56, in Sunday's final of the American Athletic Conference tournament.

Bear Foundation members and season ticketholders can put in ticket requests through your online ticket account. Requests for the first and second rounds in Tulsa have to be submitted by 5 p.m. Monday.

BAYLOR NCAA NOTES:
- Baylor is appearing in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments for the first time in program history - BU had never been to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments prior to this four-year streak.
- Baylor is 11-12 in 10 previous NCAA Tournaments.
- Baylor is 8-6 in six previous NCAA Tournaments under head coach Scott Drew.
- Baylor is 1 of 15 teams nationally to play in three Sweet 16s in the last seven seasons (2010, 2012, 2014).
- The Bears are one of eight teams nationally to earn a top-six seed in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments, joining Arizona, Duke, Iowa State, Kansas, North Carolina, Villanova and Virginia.
- Baylor was a No. 6 seed in 2014, a No. 3 seed in 2015, a No. 5 seed in 2016 and is a No. 3 seed this season.
- Baylor's No. 3 seed ties the best in program history - BU was also a No. 3 seed in 2010 (Elite Eight), 2012 (Elite Eight) and 2015 (First Round). The Bears are 6-3 all-time as a No. 3 seed.
- Baylor has the nation's sixth-best postseason winning percentage over the last eight years [min. 3 NCAA appearances] (.739; 17-6 - 4-1 in 2009 NIT, 3-1 in 2010 NCAA, 3-1 in 2012 NCAA, 5-0 in 2013 NIT, 2-1 in 2014 NCAA, 0-1 in 2015 NCAA, 0-1 in 2016 NCAA).
- Baylor has played in two Final Fours (1948 and 1950) and one national championship (lost to Kentucky in 1948 title game).
- Baylor is 5-4 against RPI top 25 teams and 20-3 against teams outside the RPI top 25.
- Baylor has 12 wins over NCAA Tournament teams [seed in parentheses]: vs. Louisville (2), Oregon (3), Iowa State (5), West Virginia (4), vs. Michigan State (9), vs. VCU (10), Oklahoma State (10), at Oklahoma State (10), Xavier (11), at Kansas State (11), Florida Gulf Coast (14) and Texas Southern (16).
- More than half of Baylor's games this season have been against NCAA Tournament teams (18 of 32).
- Baylor will play New Mexico State for the 11th time - BU is 5-5 all-time against NMSU, including 1-1 in neutral site games. The Bears and Aggies have met just twice since 1981, and BU won both meetings - 66-55 in Waco on Dec. 17, 2014 and 85-70 in Waco on Dec. 23, 2015.
- Baylor's series records vs. possible second round opponents: BU is 77-86 all-time vs. No. 6 seed SMU, 2-0 all-time vs. No. 11 seed Providence and 1-1 all-time vs. No. 11 seed USC.
- All but one of Baylor's seven losses this season were against NCAA Tournament teams [NCAA seed in parentheses]: at Kansas (1), Kansas (1), at West Virginia (4), at Iowa State (5), Kansas State (11), vs. Kansas State (11). The only loss against a non-NCAA Tournament team was at Texas Tech.