Georgia State watches selection show at a truck stop bar

Head coach Ron Hunter of the Georgia State Panthers reacts against the Cincinnati Bearcats during the game in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 16, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee.  (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)

Credit: Frederick Breedon

Credit: Frederick Breedon

Head coach Ron Hunter of the Georgia State Panthers reacts against the Cincinnati Bearcats during the game in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 16, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)

A basketball team walks into a bar …

No, seriously.

The Georgia State men’s basketball team, en route home to Atlanta after winning the Sun Belt Conference tournament in New Orleans, had the bus pulled into a truck stop to watch the NCAA Tournament selection show on Sunday evening. It was there the Panthers found out they were the No. 14 seed in the Midwest Region and would play No. 3 Houston in Tulsa on Friday.

Here’s how Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter related the story to reporters on Monday:

“Yesterday, instead of flying back we decided to bus back. Right on the bus I said let’s turn on and see Selection Sunday and the TVs didn’t work. So we are driving and we pull off at a bar, this little place in Mississippi. There were 12 people. It was called the Red Truck Stop Zone or something. And we walk in with all my guys and there were seven guys in there, all 85 years old, having a beer. They had one TV. We watched and found out that’s who we were going to play. The guys thought I was crazy but we pulled off into a truck stop and we found a little TV. I want to tell Patrick, ‘Thanks for your love man and hosting our team for about seven minutes.’

“I wish I could take him with us. He was an older guy who owned the place. He’s walking in there and he’s got all these guys from Atlanta coming in there, 6-7, 6-8. He thought it was a takeover. I appreciate him letting us watch his TV. We got back on the bus and came back to Atlanta.”