The fifth-seeded Mountaineers came in riding a nine-game win streak after upsetting top-seeded Robert Morris for a chance to play in the finals.

WSJ: LIU Brooklyn earns NCAA berth with Northeast title

The Wildcats, preseason No. 3, had themselves been pitched from the lowly National Invitation Tournament by a lowly school called Robert Morris.

WSJ: Kentucky Basketball's New Death Star

He planned to start a gym franchise, but after a free 13-week entrepreneurship class at Robert Morris University, paid for by the federally funded Veterans Business Outreach Center in Pittsburgh, he quickly found out the numbers didn't add up.

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Turned down by an Atlantic 10 school in Fordham, and content to stay at an NEC school in Robert Morris, suddenly he was in the Big East with a dream job.

WSJ: Rice's abrasive nature apparent early in career

Rice went 44-51 in three years and posted a 16-38 mark in the Big East after going 73-31 in three seasons at Robert Morris.

WSJ: Rutgers AD resigns amid basketball video scandal

He posted a 16-38 mark in the Big East, after going 73-31 in three seasons at Robert Morris.

WSJ: Two Rutgers players defend fired coach Rice