A team fresh off an upset win in the 1^st round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the 13-seed Yale Bulldogs, will face the 5-seed San Diego State Aztecs in the 2^nd round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament of the East Region in Spokane, Washington at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena with the game scheduled to start at 9:40 PM ET on Sunday night and will air on TBS.

The Yale Bulldogs needed a miracle just to win their conference tournament after trailing by 4 against the Brown Bears with 20 seconds left to go before going on a 5-0 run in the last 15 seconds of the game. 

Yale also trailed the Auburn Tigers by 7 points at halftime of their 1^st round matchup on Friday and would trail by 9 points before going on a 10-0 run to take a 44-43 lead with 16:38 left in the 2^nd half but would trail again by 10 points with 10:28 left to go in the game and would trail 58-68 with 7:31 left in the 2^nd half before going on a 20-8 run to end the game. The Bulldogs struggled from the free throw line in their win against the Tigers as they only shot 67.7% from the line, however, the win would be their first since the 2016 NCAA tournament and only their 2^nd win in tournament history as they have never made it past the 2^nd round in any of their previous NCAA Tournament appearances. 

The Yale Bulldogs will hope for better shooting from the free throw line if they are going to advance to the Sweet 16 with a win against the San Diego State Aztecs in the 2^nd round of the tournament.

The final score of their game against the UAB Blazers is no indication of how the Aztecs controlled the game as they only trailed for three minutes the entire game; they led the game 35-29 in the 1^st half and would win the game in the 1^st round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament against the UAB Blazers by a score of 69-65. 

The San Diego State Aztecs advanced all the way to the NCAA Championship game last year before losing to UConn and have advanced to at least the Sweet 16 in each of the Tournaments they were a 5 seed or better including last season’s run as a 5-seed. San Diego State is one of the best defensive efficient teams in the nation this season as they rank 35^th with an average of 66.56 points allowed per game. 

The Aztecs will look to make it to the Sweet 16 for the 2^nd consecutive season when they face the Yale Bulldogs in the 2^nd round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Sunday night.

BookMaker has the San Diego State Aztecs listed as 5.5-point favorites against the Yale Bulldogs in the 2^nd round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Sunday night. The Yale Bulldogs have a record of 16-12-2 ATS overall and covered in their win against the Auburn Tigers as a 14-point underdog while the San Diego State Aztecs are 13-20 ATS overall and failed to cover the 6-point spread as a favorite in their 1^st round matchup against the UAB Blazers.

Yale won the Ivy League Conference Tournament and had an impressive 1^st round win against the Auburn Tigers in the 1^st round of the tournament while San Diego State nearly led their matchup wire to wire, only trailing for three minutes against the UAB Blazers. The Bulldogs have been the better team at covering the spread this season with a record of 16-12-2 ATS overall while the Aztecs are 13-20 ATS overall. Yale can win this game outright, however, I will go the safe route and buy the .5 point while taking the points with the Yale Bulldogs when they face the San Diego State Aztecs in the 2^nd round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Sunday night.