Two conference tournament winners will square off in the round of 64 in the East Region of the 2024 NCAA Tournament when the 15-seed South Dakota State Jackrabbits face the 2-seed Iowa State Cyclones in Omaha, Nebraska, at the CHI Health Center Omaha. The game, which will start at 7:35 PM ET and air on Tru TV, will be played in Omaha, Nebraska.

South Dakota State is the regular season and conference tournament champion in the Summit League after finishing the regular season with a record of 22-12 and 12-4 in conference play. The Jackrabbits received the automatic qualifying bid with a 76-68 win against the Denver Pioneers last Tuesday in the Summit League Conference Tournament Championship game and are riding an eight-game winning streak. 

The Jackrabbits only faced one NCAA Tournament team this season in their 34 games, which were also their first game of the season and resulted in a 75-81 loss at home against the Akron Zips, which was also part of their 0-4 regular season start to the 2023-24 college basketball season. However, the Jackrabbits would win 22 of their final 30 games to end the season, including the win in the Summit League Conference Tournament Championship game. 

This will be South Dakota State's seventh NCAA Tournament appearance and their second in the previous three seasons. However, South Dakota State has never won a game in the NCAA Tournament and has lost by an average margin of 10.83 points per game in its previous appearances. South Dakota State will look to change that trend when they face the Big 12 Conference Tournament winner, the Iowa State Cyclones, in the round of 64.

Iowa State tore through the Big 12 Conference Tournament in dominating fashion, winning by an average margin of 20.33 points per game, including a 28-point victory in the Big 12 Conference Tournament Championship game against the Houston Cougars on Saturday by a score of 69-41 to earn the automatic qualifying bid for the Big 12 Conference. 

The defensive efficiency of the Cyclones played a pivotal role in Iowa State winning the Big 12 Conference tournament, as they allowed an average of 53.33 points per game, including limiting Houston to their season-low 41 points. Iowa State enters this game having won seven of their last eight games and has been one of the best teams defensively during that stretch, as they are allowing an average of 56.13 points per game during that stretch. Iowa State will be playing in their 3^rd consecutive NCAA Tournament. However, they were defeated last season in the First Four rounds of the tournament but advanced to the Sweet 16 in the 2022 NCAA tournament with wins over the LSU Tigers and Wisconsin Badgers. 

The Iowa State Cyclones will look to exert their strong defensive play in the round of 64 when they face the South Dakota State Jackrabbits on Thursday evening.

WagerWeb has the Iowa State Cyclones listed as 16-point favorites against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the round of 64 of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Thursday evening. This will be the 7^th time in history that the South Dakota State Jackrabbits will face the Iowa State Cyclones in college basketball, with the Cyclones having won four of the six meetings. However, the Jackrabbits have won the previous two matchups, with the most recent contest coming in the 2020-21 college basketball season, which resulted in a 71-68 win on the road for South Dakota State.

It's hard to point to a team that had a more impressive run during their conference tournament than the Iowa State Cyclones, as they won by an average margin of 20.33 points per game in the Big 12 conference tournament, which included a 28-point win against a 1-seed, the Houston Cougars, in the championship game. However, South Dakota State has only lost their NCAA Tournament appearances by an average margin of 10.33 points per game and has won the last two games in the series against the Cyclones. Take the points with the South Dakota State Jackrabbits when they face the Iowa State Cyclones in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.