What was a sense of anger and disbelief last year when UNLV basketball fans watched where the Rebels were placed turned to more acceptance and intrigue Sunday as this year's 65-team field was broadcast to hundreds of fans on large screens inside Cox Pavilion.

The acceptance was about continuing to celebrate a team that lost four starters from last year and still won 26 games while repeating as Mountain West Conference Tournament champions.

The intrigue was about learning if Kent State's most famous recent basketball alum remains Chargers tight end Antonio Gates and how many people realize the late Thurman Munson attended the university known most for the shooting of students by the Ohio National Guard in May of 1970.

Think of UNLV's latest NCAA trip this way: You enter a stand-up comedy competition and your opening opponent is another guy of equal talent who plays the same local clubs. If the judges deem you funnier and pass you to the next round, George Carlin awaits.

It's another way of describing the 8-9 line of a bracket.

UNLV was placed in that position by receiving a No. 8 seed in the Midwest Regional, set to play No. 9 Kent State on Thursday at Omaha, Neb., the state's largest city that sits on the Missouri River and one Rebels' coach Lon Kruger and his staff know intimately, given all have ties within three hours of the town that houses the largest community theater in the country.

A victory would move UNLV into Saturday's second round, where barring a miracle of the Portland Trail Blazers showing up in Omaha instead of Portland State, top-seed Kansas will stand as a potentially insurmountable challenge.

In this sense, George Carlin is a Jayhawk.

"The 8-9 games are always a tossup," Kruger said. "I think going in, you would rather be an 11 than an 8 (seed). In theory, the (8-9) line is the (worst) because you obviously have a tough, evenly matched first game and then a huge obstacle in the second.

"But that's tournament time and we're delighted to be playing."

This is a seed of bad luck more than anything, but it also shows more respect for UNLV and the Mountain West this season than last, when the Rebels had a much stronger resume than a No. 7 seed suggested.

Kruger is correct. Most anyone would prefer a No. 10 or 11 over an 8, given roads to the Sweet 16 from those spots don't include playing a No. 1. But the truth is that five months ago while staring at what most assumed would be a rebuilding season, anyone associated with UNLV would have crawled naked through shards of glass for a No. 8 seed, a spot also handed Brigham Young in the West Regional.

"I think because of things like RPI and rankings and all that, maybe there was some disappointment last year with people about our No. 7 seed not being higher," Kruger said. "Maybe an (8) this year is better than most projected. Now we need to try and win a game or two."

Seeds don't annually bother me as much as first-round matchups, when it appears the committee does its absolute best to pair teams from non-Bowl Championship Series conferences. The inference being, get rid of the little guys as quickly as possible.

There are five such games this year, including UNLV and Kent State. It would have been just as easy to match the Rebels against a No. 9 seed like Oregon and just as simple to have a No. 7 in Gonzaga play a No. 10 like Arizona rather than the Zags meeting Davidson.

Why not give teams from non-BCS conferences more opportunities to beat those from the top six?

Such a chance would be presented to UNLV should it beat Kent State, which opened as a 11/2-point favorite. The chance would be Kansas. The odds would be incredibly long.

And still it feels different this year. Not as much anger from people. Not as much disbelief.

But for those who might again find fault in UNLV's placement, consider: It could be worse. It could be the NIT or, heaven forbid, something called the College Basketball Invitational.

Suddenly, possibly trading punch lines with George Carlin doesn't seem so frightening.

Ed Graney can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.