On to the dance...

Today ' s first round game in the NCAA Tournament against the George Washington Colonials marks the second straight season the Jackets have made the NCAA Tournament and entered as a favorite. Tech is the No. 5 seed in the Albuquerque bracket and will face off with George Washington in Nashville, Tenn. at approximately 9:45 p.m.

The Colonials are coming off their first Atlantic 10 championship in school history and tonight ' s game against Tech marks the first appearance Head Coach Karl Hobbs will make in the NCAA Tournament and is the first since 1999 for the school itself. GW is 3-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

" Basically, I ' ve watched them play a couple of times. I know they like to run and I know they like to press. So that ' s basically all I know right now, " Elder said. Ironically, Tech practiced in George Washington ' s gym to prepare for the ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C.

Tech had a walk-through and scouting session of George Washington Tuesday night to become more familiar with their personnel and gameplay.

This is Tech ' s first trip to Nashville in over four decades; at that time Tech was still part of the Southeastern Conference. The Jackets have managed to see George Washington a little more often as tonight marks the third meeting between the two colleges. Tech won both meetings in 1988.

The Tournament game against an Atlantic 10 opponent is only the second under Paul Hewitt in postseason play. The first encounter with the conference came at the hands of St. Joseph ' s in 2001, which ended in a close four-point loss.

" [George Washington is] a team that is very similar to ours in that we will both get up and down [the court], and we both can score in the 80s and 90s...they are a very athletic team, and they pressure; they are going to throw different pressures at you, " Hewitt said going through a mental list of observations of George Washington.

" They won the A-10. For people that are familiar with the A-10, that is a pretty significant accomplishment, but if you ' re not familiar with the A-10, just know that they beat Maryland and Michigan State. That pretty much says it all. It will be a big, big challenge, " Hewitt said.

After the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament in 2004 and Tech ' s amazing run to the championship game last year, Will Bynum let Hewitt know that the best preparation the team got for their unprecedented run to the finals was in the ACC Tournament, where Tech advanced to the semifinals with a buzzer beater by guard Jarrett Jack over North Carolina only to get stymied by Duke.

The Jackets once again prepared for the NCAA Tournament by competing against the ACC ' s finest. After defeating a tough North Carolina squad and suffering a close loss to Duke in this year ' s ACC Tournament, Luke Schenscher feels confident he ' s learned the best way he can to prepare for March Madness.

" Playing in the ACC is pretty much the best preparation you can get going into the tournament, and having three ACC games in a row like that definitely is something we can use to help us, " Schenscher said.

" We played two No. 1 seeds, and we beat one and battled the other one down to the wire. If you can ' t get any momentum or confidence off of that, then I don ' t know what would, " Jack said at the team ' s last press conference on Tuesday before leaving for Nashville.

Finally clearing itself of the season-long injury bug, Tech looks to dress all 14 players for the game with senior forward Isma ' il Muhammad coming back from treatment on knee tendonitis and Jack resting a low ankle sprain and a bruised shoulder.

Hewitt said that Jack rested the majority of this week. " He didn ' t work out [Tuesday], but I think that he will be fine, " he said.

As the season has progressed, so has Tech with their team chemistry and their ability to win as a unit.

With B.J. Elder and freshman forward Jeremis Smith close to " midseason form " according to Hewitt, this is a team that is still improving while keeping up with the best in the ACC by recently defeating North Carolina and playing league powers Wake Forest and Duke in close contests that ended in heartbreaking defeats for the Jackets.

Jack has managed to turn those disappointing close losses into motivation to finish last year ' s unfinished road to an NCAA Championship.

" Nobody wants to go home. It ' s not like you can just lose and start over and say, ' Alright we ' re going to do this game over. ' Nobody wants their season to end, and I think that ' s the beauty of the tournament.

" Each time you ' re going to get that team ' s best shot. Regardless of what the situation is, it doesn ' t really matter what seed you are. Everybody is 0-0 right now; it ' s like a brand new season. You ' ve got to take that approach to every game, " Jack said.