As most expected, the Cats drew a 4 seed, but they also drew the recently added play in game between 13 seeds, supposedly 2 of the last at large picks in the field. Last year as a 12 seed South Florida won their 1st round game and then upset 5 seed Temple. 2 years ago 11 seed VCU won the first round game, upset Georgetown, and then made the Final 4. Hopefully the Cats aren't the 3rd upset victim in 3 years.
As two of the last teams selected, its no surprise the Cats' possible opponents are similarly ranked; Boise State finished 44 in the RPI while La Salle finished 46 while BSU was 49 in kenpom with La Salle 57. Boise State played in the tougher Mountain West conference and finished with a SOS of 53, going 4-7 against Top 50 RPI teams and 8-8 against the Top 100. La Salle finished with an SOS of 77, going 2-4 vs the Top 50 and 6-8 vs the Top 100. Both teams had moments where they received votes in both the AP and Coaches polls during the season. Boise State featured a pair of 2nd team All Mountain West players in guards Anthony Drmic and Derrick Marks while La Salle had A-10 1st team Ramon Gallaway and 2nd team Tyreek Duren.
Boise State 
The 3 charts show the tempo free stats for Boise State for the season, Mountain West games, and their games vs Top 100 kenpom teams (14 games, they went 7-7). They play at fairly high pace, and played their fastest against the Top 100. Notably they have poor post defense as evidenced by their lack of blocks and high 2PT% agaisnt them, but they are also a very good 3PT shooting team and rely on the 3 a lot; those numbers are very similar to ours. They also allow their opponents to shoot a high amount of 3s. Also, they rely more on playmaking, especially by their two lead guards. They are a very consistent defensive rebounding team, but their defense slips quite a bit against better competition.
I put together per 100 possession charts to better show actual production while on the floor, but also added shooting charts. The top left chart shows the starters (bold) in addition to experience and height. Marks and Drmic are their key players with a solid pair of posts (Watkins and Buckner) and a drive way shooter (Eloriagga).
La Salle
La Salle has some similar metrics, but they slip substantially on offense against tougher teams. They rely much more on a defense that forces TOs and are a very poor defensive rebounding team. Their 2PT% defense slips in conference play, and offensively while they rely on the 3 at a similar rate to Boise, they also feature a much higher assist rate.
Like Boise, La Salle is led by a pair of perimeter players with a nice complimentary player inside (Wright). Its notable that one of their better post players, Steve Zack, has been out for the last several weeks with a foot injury.
I expect to play Boise State. Boise State is the better rebounding team and La Salle really slips shooting the ball against better competition. Plus, if Zack is still out, that will substantially hurt La Salle's interior defense and rebounding. Of course, either team could get hot from 3, and in that case La Salle may have the advantage because opponents attempt a lot fewer 3s against them. Either opponent would provide a nice challenge for the Cats, but I would expect a comfortable win against either one.
