PROVIDENCE, R.I. — It must have been a strange feeling for Alyn Breed as he sat on the McNeese State bench in sweatpants Thursday.

He was in his former home but with a new team in a tough role.

Breed played two games this season for the Cowboys before a knee injury ended his season. 

Before McNeese, he played 88 games for Providence College in the Big East, which plays its home games at Amica Mutual Pavilion, the site of McNeese’s NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional opener against Clemson.

He left Providence under a cloud of controversy, but ultimately, the junior guard was found innocent of the accusations made by his former girlfriend. Breed said it would have loved to have gotten a chance to play back in his old home.

“It would have been great,” Breed said. “It would have been nice to have been back playing in front of friends.”

Breed has two years of eligibility remaining.

OVER EXPOSURE: McNeese is getting a big lift from its basketball team.

President Wade Rousse, the school’s brand received a boost from Sunday’s Selection Show. Since then, about 1.2 million readers/viewers have been exposed to stories mentioning McNeese, he said. Rousse said that’s the equivalent to $13.6M in advertising coverage.

BRACKET WATCH: ESPN’s NCAA Tournament perfect bracket tracker listed 1,390,150 remaining after No. 12 seed McNeese beat No. 5 seed Clemson.

There were 7,998,078 perfect brackets before the Cowboys’ 69-67 first-round win, according to the tracker.

It was Creighton’s 89-75 win over Louisville, however, that was listed as the No. 1 bracket buster. There were 13,339,089 brackets busted by that game.

ALL THE RAVE: McNeese team manger Amir Khan has been one of the early viral sensations of March Madness, attracting attention for toting a boom box and rapping on social media videos to hype up the team. He was featured on TV as McNeese played Clemson in the first round of the West Region on Thursday.

McNeese cheerleaders and one of its players — Sincere Parker — were wearing socks with Khan’s face on them.

Khan has been a hot commodity since the school’s social media director recorded him leading the team down the tunnel during a game last month.

As a result, he became the first known basketball manager to receive a name, image and likeness deal. He received sponsorships from Buffalo Wild Wings, TickPick and Insomnia Cookies.

“It’s been absolutely surreal,” Khan said. “I’ve been a big March Madness fan for my whole life. And just to be here and have the attention on me, it’s more than I’d ever imagined.”

NIGHT SHOW: Of the six active coaches who have won national championships, three of them performed Thursday night in Providence.

In the evening’s first game, Bill Self and Kansas took on John Calipari and Arkansas in an East Regional first-round match. In the nightcap, Rick Pitino and St. John’s played upstart Omaha.