NCAA tourney sparks basketball fever in New Mexico

(AP) With some of their strongest teams in years, New Mexico and New Mexico State are creating quite the NCAA tournament buzz across the state.

No. 3 seed New Mexico (29-5) is in the West Regional will face No. 14 seed Harvard (19-9), the Ivy League champions, on Thursday in Salt Lake City. Behind Kendall Williams and Tony Snell, this is the best team the Lobos have had since Norm Ellenberger's teams in the late 1970s.

No. 13 New Mexico State (24-10) is the WAC champion. It's in the Midwest Regional and will play No. 4 seed Saint Louis (27-6) in San Jose, Calif.

While New Mexico can bask in having two teams in the NCAAs, things are very different next door. Not a single team from neighboring Texas is in the tournament for the first time since 1977.