Robert Barker/University Photography

Steve Donahue, the Robert E. Gallagher '44 Head Coach of Men's Basketball, left, and assistant coach Woody Kampmann study film on the plane to Boise, Idaho, March 18.

Robert Barker/University Photography

The Big Red arrives in Boise.

Robert Barker/University Photography

The team is greeted with a banner at the hotel.

BOISE, Idaho -- Clear, blue skies all the way from Ithaca to Idaho made for a smooth five-hour flight to Boise March 18 for the men's basketball team. The Big Red will face the University of Missouri Tigers at 3 p.m. EDT Friday in first-round NCAA tournament action.

Coaches, staff, pep band and cheerleaders in tow, the team was ushered military-style early Wednesday onto an airbus chartered by the NCAA, straight from the tarmac of Ithaca/Tompkins Regional Airport. Two buses awaited them as soon as they landed, along with John F. Janson, the NCAA volunteer charged with hosting Cornell.

Pulling up to the hotel in downtown Boise, the team was greeted by a "Let's Go Red!" banner, alongside a "Welcome" banner from the NCAA.

After a few hours rest, the team practiced at Bishop Kelly High School.

A busy day of open shootaround and media time at Boise State University's Taco Bell Arena are on tap for Thursday, the day before the big game.