NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – At first, Belmont appeared to have overreached when it jumped from NAIA to NCAA Division I in 1997.

How could the small Baptist university – enrollment around 4,500 – survive?

Quite well, as it turns out.

The Bruins have hit the big time, with their men’s and women’s basketball teams in the NCAA tournaments.

This is the second straight berth for the men, first for the women. It’s like the Bruins have picked up where they left off in 1996 when both made the NAIA tournaments before the big move.

“We’re just on the fast track now,” women’s coach Tony Cross said Tuesday.

“What’s so exciting, even more so exciting is we still have room for growth. I don’t think after we’ve done this, we can sit back and say, “OK, we’ve accomplished it all.’ I think we have potential to be even better in all things that we do here.”

It’s that kind of vision that prompted Belmont officials to swap the security of being among the NAIA’s best and leap into the unknown of Division I.

The school had no problem garnering attention with country star Vince Gill good buddies with men’s coach Rick Byrd and a big booster of the program. Belmont also had its music business program with alums like Brad Paisley, Trisha Yearwood, Lee Ann Womack and now, “American Idol” contestant Melinda Doolittle.

School officials made the move, and Cross said his only request was being funded enough to compete for titles.

“I’m not interested in being middle of the pack. I want to win championships,” Cross said.

Belmont invested with a new, on-campus arena seating 5,000. They also kept the same coaches. Byrd, who led Belmont to a third-place NAIA finish in 1995, is in his 21st season, while Cross is in his 23rd at his alma mater.

“You’ve got to have financial support to do what we need to do,” Cross said, crediting athletic director Mike Strickland with managing the budget.

“People would ask, “We know the men went Division I. Did you go Division I too?’ I’d say, “Oh yeah,”‘ Cross said.

Byrd said the university made the same commitment to success in the NCAA as it did in NAIA.

The biggest problem in making the transition? Finding a conference. Finally in 2001, the Atlantic Sun welcomed Belmont.

“We were out there hanging, just flapping in the wind for a while. People used that against us in recruiting,” Cross said.

It’s a family atmosphere at Belmont where Byrd and Cross have offices together, the teams consider each other brothers and sisters, and no one fights over who gets the court first. Sophomore guard Andy Wicke said reaching the NCAAs in the same year had been the goal.

“It’s exactly how we all kind of hoped. It’s very exciting, and we’re real close with each other. It’s fun to do it together,” Wicke said.

The male Bruins made their NCAA tourney debut last year, losing to UCLA 78-44 in the first round. Belmont is a No. 15 seed again and play No. 2 Georgetown on Thursday in Winston-Salem.

“It gives folks elsewhere an idea that some good things are going on,” Byrd said.

“That’s the good thing is when you make this move to Division I, you work long and hard just to get here once. When you can start to do it on somewhat of a consistent basis, it says a lot about the way you went about doing it.”

The women followed this year, taking the tournament title and automatic berth by winning eight of their final nine games, led by sophomore Alysha Clark of Mt. Juliet, Tenn. She ranks fourth nationally in rebounds with 12.7 per game and seventh in field goal percentage at 58.7 percent.

With a 25-6 record, they earned a No. 14 seed and play third-seeded Georgia on Saturday in Minnesota.

Now Belmont is reaping the rewards for placing its name in the NCAA bracket. Cross has been on the phone almost constantly since his team secured its berth last weekend, and Byrd has had a year to see what this means to a mid-major school.

“The recognition of the school’s name on a national basis is far superior than it was this time a year ago,” Byrd said.

“It is kind of amazing. But it’s just simply, arguably, the biggest sports event in the United States. The Super Bowl is a huge deal for sure. But I think that there’s more excitement around this event … than anything else.”

And the Bruins are finding out that makes it worth the cost to go dancing.