The last time the BYU men’s basketball team ventured to Denver for the NCAA Tournament, they were deep in the throes of Jimmer-mania.

Fourteen years later, the Cougars are going back to the Mile High City for March Madness as a No. 6 seed.

In 2011 BYU and Jimmer Fredette earned a No. 3 seed in Denver. Cougar fans reveled in the chance to make the trip and watched a 74-66 win against No. 14 Wofford before a dominating 89-67 victory against Gonzaga for a berth in the Sweet 16.

That’s the history. The present is coming up fast for BYU, which won nine of its past ten games with four wins against Top 25 teams.

“I’m excited, regardless of what seed we got,” Cougar coach Kevin Young said. “I’ve just been a huge fan of March Madness my whole life, as a kid and even as an adult. So to be able to be a part of it, it’s kind of surreal, to be honest with you. To hear our name called on the show, and to just be a part of it. We like that we’re in Denver, the fact that we’re close to home. That’s certainly where I kind of had my eye.”

The Cougars, a No. 5 seed last season under Mark Pope, will play No. 11 seed VCU, which won the Atlantic 10 title for the second time in the past three seasons.

A quick primer on VCU: The Rams finished 28-6 overall and 15-3 in the A-10. They are coached by former Utah State head man Ryan Odom and their top scorers are guards Max Shulga and Joe Bamisile, who both average 15 points per game. VCU is ranked No. 9 in the country in scoring defense (62.4 points per game). The Rams made a memorable run to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed in 2011.

“We obviously wanted Denver,” Cougar guard Trevin Knell said. “We felt like the elevation is kind of on our side a little bit. And we really want Cougar fans to really enjoy this time. With Denver being pretty close, we’re going to have a really good show with the crowd. Cougar fans, get ready. I think it’s going to be a crazy atmosphere. It’s going to be awesome to play in the (Denver) Nuggets arena.”

The NCAA Tournament Selection Show first honored the recently passed Greg Gumbell, who hosted the show for many years. BYU fans watched as the No. 5 seed in Denver, considered a possible landing spot for the Cougars, went to Big 10 Tournament Champion Michigan.

After going through the first ten minutes, ESPN showed nine different teams on a split screen waiting for their seeding, including the BYU team from the Marriott Center Practice Annex. Cougar fans had to endure through a full commercial break (featuring Capital One, Geiko, Turbo Tax and Great Clips) before finally learning of BYU’s seed, location and opponent.

Houston (30-4), which won the Big 12 regular season title as well as the tournament championship, is a No. 1 seed and opens with No. 16 SIU-Edwardsville in Wichita, Kan. Texas Tech (25-8) earned a No. 3 seed and is also in Wichita, playing No. 14 UNC-Wilmington.

Iowa State (24-9), which BYU beat twice, will have to play without injured leading scorer Keshawn Gilbert. The Cyclones are a No. 3 seed in the South and will play No. 14 Lipscomb in Milwaukee.

Arizona (22-12) advanced to the Big 12 Tournament title game before losing to Houston and that launched the Wildcats to a No. 4 seed, playing No. 13 Akron in Seattle. Kansas (21-12), the pre-season No.1 team, is a No. 7 seed and takes on No. 10 Arkansas in Providence, R.I. Baylor (19-14) earned a No. 9 seed and plays No. 8 Mississippi State in Raleigh, N.C.

Another Big 12 team, West Virginia (19-13), was listed as among the First Four Out.

Utah State got into the tournament as well, earning a No. 10 seed and will face off with No. 7 UCLA at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.