Everybody dance now.

The Boise State Broncos waited anxiously since Wednesday's quarterfinal loss in the Mountain West Tournament to see whether they were headed to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time.

Sunday's hour-long selection show named nearly all of the 68 teams in the field before the Broncos' name finally came up, sending the team into a tizzy.

For the first time in school history, Boise State earned an at-large berth, and will open tournament play at 7:10 p.m. MDT Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio, against La Salle in a matchup of No. 13 seeds in the West Region.

"It was probably one of the best moments of our lives," Boise State guard Jeff Elorriaga said. "… to be able to see your name on that board is unbelievable."

The winner will travel to Kansas City and take on fourth-seeded Kansas State on Friday.

Boise State coach Leon Rice called making the tournament "a huge milestone."

As soon as the celebration died down, it was right back to work for Rice and his team.

Only 72 hours separates the Broncos (21-10) from the tournament announcement to flying across the country and taking the court against the Philadelphia-based Explorers (21-9) of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

"I've never had to turn around this quickly," Rice said. "… now it's a rush, a mad dash."

The Broncos practiced Saturday and Sunday with the possibility in mind that they would play Wednesday. Rice quickly dispatched his assistants to scout the Explorers, and the team held a walkthrough Sunday night.

What Boise State did know in the minutes after finding out it will face La Salle is that a similar foe awaits.

The Broncos are tied for 44th nationally in scoring offense (73.3), and the Explorers are 60th (72.4).

Wednesday's matchup will be the first between the teams, and it marks La Salle's first trip to the tournament in 21 years.

"They've had some good wins. … I'm guessing they're a pretty good offensive team," Elorriaga said.

The two teams will find a bit of similarities, as both use guard-heavy rotations. Both have three guards averaging at least 10 points per game.

"They've got a lot of guards that are really good, real balanced team. … I haven't got the opportunity to see them much this year, they probably haven't seen much of us," Rice said. "It's going to be interesting."

Even though the Broncos are playing in one of the "First Four" games, there was no disappointment in heading to Dayton and what was previously known as the play-in games.

"We're in the tournament," forward Ryan Watkins said. "I don't care where we play. We could play on Mars, I'd be happy to go."

The tournament berth also provides the Broncos a chance to play again after a lackluster showing in their 73-67 loss to San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament on Wednesday, when they shot a season-low 34.9 percent from the field. Rice said his team was "hungry" in practice and it wouldn't be content just being in the field.

"There will be none of that - we didn't play our best ball in the Mountain West Tournament," Rice said.

Rice's players echoed that sentiment.

"I don't think anybody's satisfied just making it," Watkins said. "We want to show everyone we can play on a big stage."

Dave Southorn: 377-6420, Twitter: @IDS_southorn