LOS ANGELES—The Shockers know they aren’t in Kansas anymore, nor are they complaining about it. 

“First of all, I love the weather,” Wichita State men’s basketball coach Gregg Marshall said. “We left some snow on the ground in Wichita, and this is beautiful out here.”

WSU spent most of Wednesday practicing and talking to the media. They were hoping for a quick trip to the beach, but the L.A. traffic got in the way—and probably for the best. 

“Get in trouble,” WSU guard Ron Baker said when asked what he would do if he lived in L.A. “I’d wanna live on the beach, get some rays, some sun and enjoy life. I probably would be star struck a little if I lived here.”

But when Thursday evening rolls around, the Shockers are hoping to become the stars when they face La Salle in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The game is being played in the Staples Center, home of the Lakers and Clippers of the NBA. 

La Salle and WSU are in a similar position—two mid-major teams playing on college basketball’s biggest stage when neither was supposed to be here. 

The Explorers are a 13-seed that defeated Boise State in the First Four, before stunning four-seed Kansas State in the second round and knocked off 12-seed Mississippi in the third round to advance to the Sweet 16. 

WSU, a nine seed, defeated eight-seed Pittsburgh in its opening game before its gargantuan upset of top-seeded Gonzaga on Saturday. 

“We’re basically two of the same teams,” La Salle guard Tyrone Garland said. “We’re both going to go out there and play hard. We’re both teams that people didn’t think we were going to get here, so it would be a great matchup.”

Despite the players’ enthusiasm, the WSU-La Salle game is probably the least talked about of the eight Sweet 16 games taking place Thursday and Friday. 

And you can’t blame anyone, either. When you have powerhouse programs like Kansas, Duke, Michigan State, Indiana, Arizona and Ohio State competing, it’s easy to forget about the two Cinderellas about to do battle in Los Angeles. 

Not that all the Cinderellas are being ignored. Florida Gulf Coast—a 15 seed—has received plenty of attention after upsetting second-seeded Georgetown in the second round and seven-seeded San Diego State in the third round. 

They will face three-seed Florida in the Sweet 16 in Texas. 

But to say either La Salle or WSU is jealous of the attention Florida Gulf Coast is getting would be wrong. 

“I’m glad for Florida Gulf Coast,” Marshall said. “Don’t know much about it. I know more now just because they’re doing well in the NCAA Tournament and know they have a beach on their campus.”

One thing both schools do like to bring up is their history. La Salle has been to 12 NCAA Tournaments and even won the national title in 1954. WSU went to the Final Four in 1965 and made its last trip to the Elite Eight in 1981. 

While it’s been a while since they played for WSU, names like Cleo Littleton, Xavier McDaniel and Antoine Carr still mean a lot to the black and gold faithful. 

“We’ve had our share of great basketball,” Marshall said. “It’s all coming together for us again.”

While the spotlight is hardly on either of these teams, it will soon be on one. The winner will advance to the Elite Eight to face either Arizona or Ohio State on Saturday for a spot in the Final Four. 

“Our guys are excited for the challenge,” Marshall said. “It’s been a wonderful week spreading the good word about Wichita and Wichita State University. So it’s time to lace them up and play again.”