PHILADELPHIA (03/16/03) - For just the second time in program history, the Saint Joseph's men's basketball team has received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Hawks learned Sunday night that they earned a No. 7 seeding in the East Region and will face 10th-seeded Auburn in the first round on Friday, March 21, in Tampa, Fla. As their seeding was announced, the Hawks gathered joyously and embraced on the floor of Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, where several hundred fans were watching CBS's selection show on a large-screen television. The overachieving Hawks were picked by most pre-season prognosticators to finish in the middle of the pack of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The NIT was a more reasonable expectation, those "experts" agreed. "I think college basketball is really about opportunity," head coach Phil Martelli said after the bracket was announced. "And to see these players rewarded with this opportunity, it makes this special. It really makes it worth all the hard work to get to this point." If SJU (23-6) can defeat the Tigers in the first round, it will take on the winner of the game between No. 2 Wake Forest and No. 15 East Tennessee State. The Hawks are the third Atlantic 10 team to receive a bid to this year's tournament, joining third-seeded Xavier in the South Region and fourth-seeded Dayton in the Midwest. "I'm delighted for the Atlantic 10 being recognized with a three, a four and a seven [seed]," said Martelli. "It's a statement by the [Selection] Committee that the strength of schedule really does matter, and the non-conference schedule is No. 1 in the Atlantic 10." This is the 17th trip to the NCAA Tournament for Saint Joseph's, and the second in the last three years. The Crimson and Gray hold an all-time record of 15-19 in NCAA play since first appearing in 1959. St. Joe's lost its only previous match-up against Auburn, on December 18, 1956. The Hawks' only other NCAA at-large berth came in 2001. That season, their last tournament appearance, Saint Joseph's defeated Georgia Tech in the first round before falling to Stanford, 90-83, in a classic second-round match-up. --Kevin Bonner/Saint Joseph's Sports Media Relations