5:53 p.m. — Florida State has not made the NCAA Tournament since 1998. Star point guard Toney Douglas doesn’t want to wait anymore.

“I was mad because we were playing Friday. I wanted to play Tuesday or Wednesday,” Douglas said Thursday.

No. 5 Florida State tips off with No. 12 Wisconsin at 7:55 p.m. Friday night, making it the latest scheduled game of the 32 first-round contests.

5:40 p.m. — We're still waiting for the BIG upset in this year's NCAA Tournament. It could happen in Boise.

There have been seven double-digit seeds to win first-round games in Boise.

2005: No. 11 UAB 82, No. 6 LSU 57

2001: No. 15 Hampton 58, No. 2 Iowa State 57

2001: No. 10 Georgetown 63, No. 7 Arkansas 60

2001: No. 11 Georgia State 50, No. 6 Wisconsin 49

1998: No. 10 West Virginia 82, No. 7 Temple 52

1989: No. 12 DePaul 66, No. 5 Memphis 63

1983: No. 10 Utah 52, No. 7 Illinois 49

2:52 p.m. — If you attend the games at Taco Bell Arena or watch on television, you will notice a new floor in the gym. The NCAA shipped new floors to some of the tournament sites, an attempt at uniformity across the tournament and to ease any sponsorship concerns.

The court has a lighter color wood than Boise State's normal floor. The court has small Boise State logos and small red, white and blue ribbon decals on either side of half court. Midcourt features an NCAA logo. There are small NCAA logos inside the 3-point lines at either end of the court.

On one baseline it says Boise. The other baseline reads Taco Bell Arena.

I think it's a good idea, especially since there is only one 3-point line. Some courts, these days, have about four lines marking different distances.

Boise State does not get to keep the court.

2:18 p.m. — Missouri head coach Mike Anderson figures the NCAA Tournament selection committee knew where to send his Tigers for their first- and second-round games.

Anderson, after all, has coached in Boise the last three times the tournament was played here. He was an assistant for Arkansas in 1998 and 2001 and the head coach at Alabama-Birmingham in 2005.

“I think the committee looked at it and said, ‘It’s time to send Mike Anderson back home.’ So I’m back home boys,” Anderson told the media Thursday.

It might feel like home, but Anderson hasn’t had much luck in Boise. His teams are 2-3 and have never advanced.

1:42 p.m. — Does homophobia play a role in the intense dislike of Duke?

1:34 p.m. — The Ivy League doesn’t offer athletic scholarships and sets up its basketball season to minimize the academic impact. Cornell, the Ivy champ, only missed three days of school during the spring semester.

“(The Ivy coaches) talk about the load that these kids have academically,” said coach Steve Donahue, who has been in the league for 19 years. “You wouldn’t imagine it. … There’s no way to hide. There’s no joke courses.”

Still, Donahue said, his best players are good enough to play anywhere.

“They achieve such great academics and still have a dream of playing after college,” he said. “It’s just a credit to them.”

— Chadd Cripe

1:08 p.m. — On “The Office,” Andy Bernard (played by Ed Helms) is a Cornell graduate.

One of the show’s writers and actresses Mindy Kaling, who plays Kelly Kapoor, attended Dartmouth, Cornell’s biggest rival.

And so, occasionally, Cornell ends up being the butt of a joke. Like this one where Andy describes his college days.

One episode this season featured Cornell and Dartmouth prominently. Dwight Schrute (played by Rainn Wilson), Andy’s rival at work, pretends to be interested in attending Cornell.

Dwight gets the last laugh with a dig at Cornell.

Cornell center Jeff Foote talked about the publicity for his school during Thursday’s press conference. Cornell plays Missouri on Friday at Taco Bell Arena.

“Andy is the guy’s name. I think he’s hilarious. The creators of the show are from Dartmouth, so obviously Cornell gets a little zing from that. I think it’s kind of funny they play off of that and play off of the Ivy League reputation,” Foote said.

12:29 p.m. — Utah State coach Stew Morrill is tired of hearing about the age of his players. Forward Gary Wilkinson is 26, older than more than 200 NBA players.

“Way too much is being made of the age of our team. Nothing was made of it really until we got a lot of national publicity this year and then Mark Fox from Nevada for whatever reason decided to make a deal out of it,” Morrill said.

Wilkinson, the WAC player of the year, served a two-year LDS mission in Canada.

“It’s just talk. There’s older and younger guys in every profession,” Wilkinson said. “I don’t know if it’s an advantage. I have had a lot more experience in my life, so that might play a part. It is what it is. I’m older than most guys and so maybe I have a little bit more old man strength as some might say.”

11:55 a.m. — Utah State coach Stew Morrill is expecting a home-court advantage during the Aggies’ first-round game against Marquette on Friday.

“The problem is getting enough tickets,” Morrill said.

Utah State, like all schools, was given 550 tickets for the opening rounds.

“You will see more Aggies than 550,” Morrill said.

11:02 a.m. — The eight teams in Boise for the NCAA Tournament will hold open practices Thursday at Taco Bell Arena.

Here is the schedule:

Noon-12: 40 p.m.: Utah State

12:45 p.m. to 1:25 p.m.: Cornell

1:30 p.m. to 2:10 p.m.: Marquette

2:15 p.m. to 2:55 p.m.: Missouri

4:25 p.m. to 5:05 p.m.: Xavier

5:10 p.m. to 5:50 p.m.: Florida State

5:55 p.m. to 6:35 p.m.: Portland State

6:40 p.m. to 7:20 p.m.: Wisconsin