The community is invited to join the Topper Nation as they send off their champion basketball team traveling by bus to the Elite Eight Tournament in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, March 26.

Alumni, friends and the public are invited to line the sidewalks along Rt. 88 and National Road, from Sheetz to Perkins Restaurant, on Tuesday morning to cheer the team bus as it travels from the Hilltop Campus to Interstate 70 West.

Expected time of departure from campus is 8 a.m., Tuesday, March 26. The men’s basketball team, coaches will be on the bus. West Liberty University police will escort the Topper caravan. So wear gold and black, display WLU rally towels, signs and lots of team spirit.

The No. 1-ranked West Liberty University men’s basketball team will take on Central Region champion Winona State (Minn.) at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in an NCAA Division II Elite Eight quarterfinal at historic Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky.

Head basketball coach Jim Crutchfield also was named Atlantic District Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season and Hilltopper senior Alex Falk earned first-team honors on Friday when the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced its 2012-13 All-District Teams. Tickets for all Elite Eight sessions are now available online at Ticketmaster or for more information, please visit hilltoppersports.com.