UC Irvine’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament won’t be an easy one.

The Anteaters, who were given the No. 13 seed in the East Region, will open tournament play Friday against No. 4 seed Louisville in Seattle.

UCLA was a stunning selection to the tournament field and will face SMU on Thursday in Louisville.

The Bruins (20-13) were given the No. 11 seed in the South Region against the No. 6 Mustangs (27-6). Most projections had UCLA out of the tournament field and headed to the NIT.

UCI earned the school’s first NCAA appearance by winning the Big West Tournament with a 67-58 triumph over Hawaii on Saturday night at Honda Center.

The Anteaters fell one victory short of the tournament last season.

UCI (21-12) will be considered a significant underdog against Louisville (24-8), though the Anteaters are tough and pose a matchup problem whenever 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye is on the floor.

The winner of the UCI-Louisville game will face the winner of No. 5 Northern Iowa and No. 12 Wyoming.

Undefeated Kentucky, as expected, was the top overall seed in the tournament and will open its pursuit of a national championship against the winner of the first-round game between Manhattan and Hampton.

More to come on this story.