You bet Scott Drew couldn't sleep. He worried his Baylor Bears had blown NCAA tourney opportunity with a stunning overtime loss to lowly Colorado in the Big 12 tourney, and when you haven't made the NCAA tourney in 20 years, there's plenty to worry about.

So when Baylor (21-10) got word it had made the field as a No. 11 seed (the last at-large team to make it), which earned it a Thursday first-round shot against No. 6 Purdue (24-8) in Washington D.C., Drew could finally relax.

“Being the 65th pick is indicative of the Baylor Bears,” the fifth-year coach said. “We persist and we hang in there. When it looks like we are down and out, we are able to come through. This is a very exciting time for us.”

Here's how exciting. The Bears, 15-16 a year ago, are one of the feel-good stories of the postseason. Their program was in ruins five years ago amidst a murder (player Carlton Dotson admitted to killing teammate Patrick Dennehy) and NCAA violations involving then coach Dave Bliss and his staff. Drew, the former Valparaiso coach, took over and slowly rebuilt the program.

Yes, Purdue coach Matt Painter is impressed.

“What they had to overcome is something that is very extreme,” he said. “The job (Drew) has done is unbelievable. They have a very good team. They can make a run.”

The Waco, Texas, school started strong this season, including victories over Notre Dame and Texas A&M. Baylor won with a high-octane offense that averaged 81.4 points.

Four players average in double figures, led by Curtis Jerrells' 14.9 average.

However, the Bears struggled down the stretch, with the loss to Colorado expected to knock them out of NCAA tourney contention.

It didn't.

“I haven't slept well the last couple of nights,” Drew said. “I tell you what, it is really tough to cheer for so many teams in one day.”

Baylor has a 3-6 NCAA tourney record. It made the Final Four in 1948 and '50. It also played in the event in 1946 and '88.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Drew, who has a 57-79 record at Baylor. “Being able to progress this far in such a short period of time is a tribute to the players we brought in, the school administration and the community.

“This is what every team strives to do. And we won't be just happy being in the NCAA. With the way we played our last game, we are hungry to get that taste out of our mouth and play better. We're going there to win.”