University of Michigan basketball fans cheer after seeing their team receive an NCAA Tournament bid. The Wolverines will take on the University of Tennessee on Friday.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

The tension broke when the big screen at Crisler Arena showed exactly where the Michigan basketball team stood in the NCAA tournament.

Sitting in one of the end zones of Crisler Arena and behind the members of the Michigan team, fans let out an explosion of noise followed by a passionate singing of “The Victors.”

Eighth-seeded Michigan (20-13) will play ninth-seeded Tennessee at 12:40 p.m. Friday in Charlotte. The winner will play the winner of the Duke-Hampton game on Sunday.

Brian Bergsma, a junior in the Ross School of Business, said he was thrilled the team got into the tournament but was pleasantly surprised at the team receiving the eighth seed in the West region.

“I thought we’d be seeded more toward 10 or 11, honestly, going in,” he said. “It’s a pretty tough draw with Duke hanging there in the second round. But it’s a young team, they’ve overachieved all year, and I’ll be there rooting for ’em.”

Jared Davidson, an economics senior at Michigan, and Michael Sheffy, a history senior, said they were disappointed Michigan will be playing in Charlotte - a city a bit too far for a road trip on a college student’s budget, especially with typical airfare running about $700 on Sunday evening.

Davidson said he was wary of Tennessee, which finished the year with a 19-14 (9-9) record, good for fifth place in the Southeastern Conference’s East division.

“Tennessee’s been playing well. They did well in their conference tournament too,” he said. “I know it’s going to be tough, but I can’t believe we got an eight seed. We’re going to have to play in Charlotte, which won’t be too far for Tennessee fans to travel.”

Bergsma said he was happy with the match up, with Tennessee not having the necessary inside presence to take advantage of Michigan’s relative lack of size, he said.

Despite Michigan’s youth and Tennessee’s experience in big games - having gone to the Elite Eight in 2010 - Bergsma said he was anticipating a Wolverines victory.

“I like our match up with teams like that. They don’t really have a big guy down low to bang around with us,” he said. “As long as we’re not playing a team with a guy who’s like 6-foot-10 who'll bang us to death, I like our chances.”

Looking ahead, if such a thing is allowed during the NCAA Tournament, both the Wolverines and Volunteers will be less than thrilled to see the Blue Devils waiting in the second round.

Sebastian Quitmeyer, a sophomore at Michigan, said facing Duke in Charlotte, a game that will basically be a home game for the Blue Devils, was a tough prospect. But, then again, it is March.

“They’re a great team, but anything can happen once you get into the tournament,” he said.

Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.