BOSTON (AP) – This year, there was no surprise for Boston College.

Providence, which struggled at the end of the season, still earned some respect.

The Eagles (23-9), shocked at being left out of the NCAA tournament last season, was given a sixth-seed and faces Utah (24-8) in its first-round game Friday in Milwaukee.

“I don’t think it was the same situation we had last year,” coach Al Skinner said. “In all honesty, though, I felt about the same last year (before the selections).”

But last year turned out much different for the Eagles, a bubble team that didn’t get picked. They were 18-10 when the selection committee bypassed them and ended up in the NIT.

“That feeling last year is one of the most terrible I’ve ever felt in my life – outside of like my grandmother passing away,” forward Craig Smith said. “This year it was just ‘Where are we going.”‘

The Eagles, coming off a surprising 23-9 season, are making their third tourney appearance in four years. They advanced to the semifinals of the Big East tournament before losing to Pittsburgh 62-53 on Friday.

“I think the thing about it is, that it was unexpected,” Skinner said of his team’s season. “They got rewarded. Now we want to see if we can put a little more icing on the cake.”

BC joins Big East teams Providence and Connecticut in the NCAA tournament. Vermont, which captured the America East conference tourney, gained an automatic bid.

The Eagles learned of their selection with about 1,500 people – mostly students – in a campus dining hall.

“It’s a great feeling,” guard Jermaine Watson said. “It’s a neat atmosphere as opposed to last season.”

The 20th-ranked Friars (20-8) enter the postseason on a three-game losing streak after being in a good position to win their first Big East regular-season title. Providence lost home games to Pittsburgh and Boston College before dropping its first-round game in the conference tournament to Villanova.

The Friars, seeded 5th, play Pacific (24-7) Friday in Kansas City, Mo.

“I don’t know anything about Pacific,” said coach Tim Welsh, who leads his school to its first NCAA appearance since 1991. “I got home from a recruiting trip last night about 1:30, turned on ESPN and they were playing Cal State-Northridge.”

The Friars will be facing a hot team. Pacific has won 15 straight games, the second longest streak in the nation.

“We got to the NCAA tournament, not because we lost three games in two weeks, but because of our entire schedule,” Welsh said. “We did a lot of unbelievable things this year. We tied the school record for league wins, we had the highest ranking for a Providence team (12th) in over 25 year and now, as the No. 5 seed, we have the highest seeding for a Providence team ever.”

Senior center Marcus Douthit is just glad he’s getting another NCAA tournament appearance in his collegiate career.

“I’m celebrating because I got back to the tournament,” he said.

Vermont, which beat Maine to capture the tourney title, faces No. 2 seed Connecticut in its opening-round game in Buffalo, New York on Thursday.

The Catamounts will be relying on the play Taylor Coppenrath, who returned after missing a month with a broken wrist and scored 43 points against Maine on Saturday.

Boston University (23-5) and Rhode Island (19-13) were paired up in the first round of the NIT. The Terriers, who won the America East regular-season title but were upset in the first-round of the conference tournament, travel to Rhode Island for a Wednesday night game.