For the first time since 2017, and second time ever, March Madness is back in Evanston.

On Sunday evening, fans caught the fever inside Welsh-Ryan Arena during a Selection Show watch party. Northwestern ended up earning a seventh-seed in the West region and a matchup with 10th-seeded Boise State in Sacramento, Calif.

But the lead up to that moment was just as exciting for the couple thousand fans in attendance.

Doors to Welsh-Ryan opened at 2:30 PM, free of charge. Slowly, but surely, the lower bowl of the arena began to fill up, with anticipation building. To make the wait less boring, Northwestern aired the final of the Big Ten Tournament on the Jumbotron, allowing fans to see if NU's usurper Penn State would cut down the nets. (They didn't; top-seeded Purdue took home the tourney title.)

At around 4:30 PM, Dave Eanet and Billy McKinney, the radio voices of the Wildcats, stepped on the court to get the party started. They gave a quick rundown of the team's long list of achievements before kicking it to the now-iconic "Separate Ways" hype video that played at every home game.

Immediately after that, PA announcer Gary Ross took over, introducing every member of the team that made so much history and finished second in the Big Ten for the first time since 1958-59, from the managers all the way to head coach Chris Collins.

Once everyone was situated, Collins took the mike. He used his time to thank the fans in attendance, saying, "Nothing good happens without a lot of people being a part of it... It's very much a family atmosphere, and we wouldn't be here without all of you."

To pass the time before the Selection Show began at 5 p.m. CT, a slew of videos documenting the season were played. First up was one on the Wildside, the student section that helped fuel the Wildcats at home and that has been praised repeatedly by both players and coaches. Then an in-depth look at the Illinois game on Jan. 4. That win was the first time that it became clear the Cats were not messing around. A throwback was up next, looking back at the March Madness watch party that took place back in 2017, the only other time the Wildcats made the Big Dance.

Following the conclusion of that video, to bring it full circle, assistant coach Bryant McIntosh was joined by Nathan Taphorn, Tino Malnati and Gavin Skelly, all of whom were members of that 2016-17 tournament team. Broadly, their sentiments revolved around their pride for this team and program. McIntosh put it best, saying, "You make all of us who put the N on and walk around the city very proud… You’ve etched yourselves into history.”

Five minutes still remained after the guest appearance from the former Cats, so the production team unleashed their best and final video of the night. It took fans on a journey through the magical season, highlighting all of the key moments, from the victory over Michigan State back in December to the upset of No. 1 Purdue a month ago. This took the clock right to 5 p.m., and it was time for the show.

Fans waited with bated breath, especially around the announcement of any 7-, 8-, or 9-seed. Their exhales came in the form of elated cheers at 5:23 PM, when Greg Gumbel of CBS Sports announced Northwestern as the No. 7 seed in the West Region.

The crowd erupted. Overwhelmed with joy, no one had half a mind to look at the opponent. But it did not matter who the Cats were playing, not to the fans in Welsh-Ryan Arena.

“It meant a little extra to me personally,” said Collins, who went on to say that no one felt as disappointed as him when the Wildcats couldn’t maintain the success of 2017 and suffered through five straight losing seasons before this one.

First-team All-Big Ten point guard Boo Buie said that seeing Northwestern in the bracket finally drove home the point that the team was dancing.

“[During the season] it didn’t really feel like we made the tournament… seeing it actually up [on the screen] was the moment we’ve all been waiting for,” he said.

Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Chase Audige appreciated the moment but is looking ahead, not back.

“It’s definitely an exciting moment, but it’s more exciting to have more basketball to play…," he said. "We’re not going to take it for granted.”

"We still gotta go out there and win," he added.

Collins agreed.

“Cali, here we come!" he said. "Everyone loves going to big dances, but it’s a lot more fun if you stay for more than one song.”