The 16-seed Longwood Lancers will face the 1-seed Houston Cougars in the Round of 64 of the 2024 NCAA Tournament in the South Region. The game will occur in Memphis, Tennessee, at the FedEx Forum, with tip-off scheduled for 9:20 PM ET on Friday night. It will air on TNT.

The Longwood Lancers earned their bid to the 2024 NCAA Tournament by winning the Big South Conference Tournament with wins over the Winthrop Eagles, the regular season champions, in the Quarterfinals by a score of 69-56, the High Point Panthers, in the Semifinals by a score of 80-79 in overtime, and the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs, in the conference championship game by a score of 85-59, which also extended their winning streak to four games. 

This will be the 2^nd time in the last three seasons that the Longwood Lancers will play in the NCAA Tournament by winning their conference tournament, with the last appearance coming in the 2021-22 college basketball season. Their only other appearance in the NCAA Tournament came in the 2022 college basketball season, resulting in a blowout loss against the Tennessee Volunteers by a score of 56-88. 

The Lancers will have another tough opponent this season when they face the regular season champion of the Big 12 Conference and the best defensive team this season, the Houston Cougars, in the Round of 64 of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

The Houston Cougars won the regular-season championship in the Big 12 in their first season, finishing with a record of 15-3 in conference play and 30-4 overall. 

The Cougars also made it to the Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship game after defeating the TCU Horned Frogs in the Quarterfinals by a score of 60-45 and the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Semifinals by a score of 82-59, which was also their 11^th win in a row and their 3^rd consecutive win by double-digits. However, they would be blown out in the championship game against the Iowa State Cyclones by a score of 41-69. Houston has been the best defensive efficiency team this season in college basketball, as they allow the fewest points per game. However, that doesn't always bode well for one seed in the NCAA Tournament, as the Virginia Cavaliers were the best defensive team in the 2017-18 college basketball season but became the first seed to lose to a 16 seed. 

The Houston Cougars will look to avoid that from repeating when they face the Longwood Lancers in the 1^st Round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.

WagerWeb lists the Houston Cougars as 24.5-point favorites against the Longwood Lancers in Friday night's first Round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Longwood Lancers and Houston Cougars have not played in a college basketball game before Friday night's matchup.

Houston looked like they were on their way to being the #1 overall seed heading into the Big 12 Conference Championship game against the Iowa State Cyclones. They were on an 11-game winning streak and had won both conference tournament games by double-digits. Still, they would ultimately lose in blowout fashion against the Cyclones and only managed to score 41 points in the game, which was their lowest point total this season. The Cougars have been the best defensive efficiency team nationally this season, as they are allowing the fewest points per game. I expect the Cougars to win against Longwood. However, I expect both teams to try to slow the game down and rely on their defensive play, which is why I am buying the .5 point and taking the points with the Longwood Lancers on Friday night when they face the Houston Cougars in the 1^st Round of the NCAA Tournament.