On the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show: Gonzaga University School of Law Dean Jacob Rooksby, left, and Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, right.

Gonzaga takes on Florida State University on Thursday to earn a spot in the Elite Eight, but the university's law school has already emerged as a big winner in this year's NCAA March Madness basketball tournament.

Dean Jacob Rooksby and about 50 law students made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! earlier this week to help prove the existence of the university. Yes, you read that right. You see, Kimmel has been joking on air about the fact that he doesn't believe Gonzaga University actually exists, and that it's an imaginary campus intended only to win basketball games. He has apparently raised the hackles of some in Spokane, Washington, who are vigorously defending the reality of the university.

Among those defenders are the law school. Rooksby and students appeared on air alongside Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson—in a law school classroom—to prove Gonzaga's existence. In the segment, they all take an oath, complete with a “real Bible,” saying, “I am a real student, with real student debt.” The kicker comes when the camera zooms in on that Bible to reveal the true title: “How to Run a Fake College.” (Comedian Fred Willard later appears as Gonzaga's sham chancellor.)

We're guessing that Rooksby is the first law dean to hit the late night circuit in some time. We caught up with him Wednesday to talk about how the appearance came together and what reaction the law school has received. His answers are edited for length and clarity.

How did this come together? I know Jimmy Kimmel had been joking about Gonzaga not being real. But how did it go from a joke to the law school getting on air? Our state attorney general, Bob Ferguson, had sent a tweet to Jimmy, and Jimmy responded “I'll believe you if you swear on a stack of bibles.” Bob thought it would be fun if he swore on a stack of bibles here at our law school. He was planning to be in town so we said, “Sure, stop by.” We sent an email out to the student body and said, “Who wants to do this fun video?” We had a nice turnout. There was lots of interest. Bob came, and we came up with a plan on the spot and filmed it. He sent it to their producer.

Did you film it with a goal of making the show? Yeah. We thought we had a good chance to have a witty comeback with this video showing that Gonzaga really does exists, and we would swear to that fact on film. We filmed it Friday, and we knew we were too late to make the show Friday because he had already taped. But on Monday, we hadn't received any word about whether or not that video would play on the show. But I had friends and family on the East Coast who were texting me Monday to say, “Oh my God, that video made it on the Jimmy Kimmel show!” So we could then notify people here in Washington State to tune in.

The gag with the bible—is that something you came up with, or was it Kimmel? We used an actual Bible. We're a Catholic law school, so we had one in the building. What he put on it—How to Run a Fake College—was all Jimmy Kimmel.

What kind of reaction have you received thus far to the segment? It has really energized our students and alumni. It's not every day you get on national television and get written up in the national media. The New York Times had a little piece on that, as did Time Magazine. We're having fun with it. The whole joke is, “Does Gonzaga exist or not?” Not usually what you think of as the brand messaging you want. But in this case, any PR is good PR for us.

I have to ask, what's up with the fuzzy hats? We figured we should look memorable in the video. Somebody had in their office these troll-like hats that we decided to put on. It's not the typical law school or attorney general attire.

Any predictions on Thursday's game against Florida State? We're definitely winning. We know that. It's going to be a challenging game, but we're certainly optimistic about the outcome.