The Conference Tournament Champions out of the Horizon League, the 14-seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies, will face the 3-seed Kentucky Wildcats out of the SEC in the 1^st round of the NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the PPG Paints Arena with tip-off scheduled for 7:10 PM ET on Thursday evening and will air on CBS.

The Oakland Grizzlies won the regular season and conference tournament in the Horizon League with wins over the PFW Mastodons in the Quarterfinals by a score of 75-65, the Cleveland State Vikings in the Semifinals by a score of 74-71, and the Milwaukee Panthers in the championship game by a score of 83-76 to receive the automatic qualifying bid for the 2024 NCAA Tournament. 

The Golden Grizzlies finished the regular season with an overall record of 23-11 and won the regular season championship in the Horizon League with a conference record of 15-5. Oakland was one of the higher-scoring teams in college basketball this season, ranked 97^th nationally in scoring with an average of 76.41 points per game. 

However, the majority of their wins this season came by an average margin of 2.7 points per game because their defensive play was one of the worst in the nation, ranking 215^th in the country with an average of 72.91 points allowed per game, which doesn't bode well for the Golden Grizzlies as they will be facing a team that features two of the best guards in college basketball this season, the Kentucky Wildcats, in their first game of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. 

This will be the Golden Grizzlies' fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the first since the 2011 tournament. They have never advanced past the round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament but will look to end that trend when they face the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Kentucky Wildcats feature two guards who are projected lottery picks in the 2024 NBA Draft, Antonio Reeves and Rob Dillingham, who have combined for an average of 35.4 points per game for the Wildcats this season. 

Kentucky is one of the bluebloods in college basketball, and this will be their 62^nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their 3^rd consecutive year of making the tournament after receiving an at-large bid after finishing the regular season with a record of 23-9 and tied with the Auburn Tigers, South Carolina Gamecocks, and Alabama Crimson Tide for 2^nd place in the SEC with a conference record of 13-5. Kentucky entered the SEC Tournament on a five-game winning streak, which included an impressive 85-81 win on the road against the Tennessee Volunteers to end the regular season. However, the Wildcats lost in the SEC Quarterfinals against the Texas A&M Aggies on Friday by a score of 87-97 and only led the game for a short time with a 1-0 lead to start the game and a 16-15 lead with 13:16 to go in the first half, however, after the 16-15 lead the Wildcats would never lead at another point in the game. 

Kentucky has not advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament in the last two seasons and was eliminated in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament against the Saint Peter's Peacocks by a score of 79-85 in overtime. The Kentucky Wildcats will look to advance to the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament with a win against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Thursday evening.

WagerWeb has the Kentucky Wildcats listed as 14-point favorites against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in the 1^st round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday evening. The Oakland Grizzlies are 21-13 ATS overall, while the Kentucky Wildcats are 18-14 ATS overall this season. This will be the first time these two programs have faced each other in college basketball.

Kentucky is the more talented team, and guard play is critical when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats have arguably the best two guards in the tournament this season, Antonio Reeves and Rob Dillingham. The Golden Grizzlies have one of the worst defensive teams in college basketball this season, which I look for the Wildcats to take advantage of after ranking 2^nd nationally in scoring with an average of 89.44 points per game. Lay the points with the Kentucky Wildcats when they face the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in Thursday's 1^st round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.