Having seen all eight teams and their following of fans on the first day of the South Central Regional Tournament, it is easy to see that Tarleton State deserves the No. 1 seed in this event.

At least their fans do.

Dancing cowboys in the stands punctuate the timeouts while the Tarleton pep band plays – many of those fans wearing chaps emblazoned with the words “Texas Plowboys.”

But that's not all. This cheering section appears to be divided into about three sections, and the cowboys aren't even the most colorful.

“Lonn's Posse,” a reference to 20-year head coach Lonn Reisman, is a little more traditional group in purple T-shirts.

But totally overshadowing the rest of the fans – both the chap-wearing and the more traditional – were a trio of students in what can only be described as bright purple togas, wearing multi-colored socks, masks, colorful green wigs or caps, and other adornments.

In short, they look like a Mardi Gras nightmare.

But the biggest nightmare could be the Tarleton State team. The top-seeded Texans looked extremely athletic – although far from invincible -- in their 70-64 victory against pesky No. 8 seed St. Mary's in Saturday's quarterfinal-round nightcap.