Where is Queens? What to know of Purdue's opponent in Men's NCAA Tournament
· Yahoo Sports
Queens is looking to make some noise in its first Men's NCAA Tournament appearance.
The No. 15-seeded Royals are set to take on No. 2 Purdue in the first round of March Madness on Friday, March 20, from Enterprise Center in St Louis. Queens won the ASUN Conference Tournament for the first time in program history to qualify for the tournament.
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While just appearing in Friday's game will be a historic moment for the school, which is just in its fourth-year competing at the Division I level, you can imagine that the Royals enter the game with a bigger goal: an upset of the Boilermakers.
For those tuning in to see Queens making history, here's what to know about Queens before it takes on Purdue heading into the NCAA Tournament:
Where is Queens located?
No, your first guess of "on the western end of Long Island in New York" is not correct.
Queens is a private school located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The school has an approximate undergraduate figure of 1,900 and it was founded in 1857 as the Charlotte Female Institute.
In 2025, Queens and Elon University (located in Elon, North Carolina) announced the two universities would be merging, which is expected to be completed in August 2026.
Queens NCAA Tournament history
Friday's matchup against Purdue will be the NCAA Tournament debut for the Royals. The program first fielded a men's basketball team in the 1989-90 season.
Queens has been a Division I team since July 1, 2022.
What conference does Queens play in?
Queens competes in the Atlantic Sun (ASUN) Conference, a member since July 1, 2022. The ASUN has members in Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina and Georgia.
The Royals competed in the Conference Carolinas from 1995 to 2013, then joined the South Atlantic Conference in 2013, before moving up to Division I in 2022.
Queens won its first ASUN Conference tournament championship this past season, qualifying them for the NCAA Tournament for the first time as a Division I school. The Royals also won the Conference Carolinas three times (1996, 1998, 1999) and the South Atlantic Conference twice (2017, 2022).
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where is Queens? Nickname, March Madness history for ASUN program