The ACC Conference Tournament Champion, the 11-seed NC State Wolfpack, will face the 6-seed Texas Tech Red Raiders in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the South region. The game will be played in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the PPG Paints Arena, tipping off at 9:40 PM ET on Thursday night and airing on CBS.

Entering the ACC Tournament, the odds were stacked against the Wolfpack as they were +6000 to win the tournament and had no chance of making the NCAA Tournament unless they were to win the conference tournament after finishing the regular season in 10^th place in the ACC with a conference record of 9-11 and an overall record of 22-14. 

NC State had also lost five of their last six games entering the ACC tournament and was on a four-game losing streak. 

However, things changed quickly as the Wolfpack had no problem winning the ACC Tournament and controlled the majority of their games from start to finish in the tournament with wins over the Louisville Cardinals in the 1^st round by a score of 94-85, the Syracuse Orange in the 2^nd round by a score of 83-65, the Duke Blue Devils in the Quarterfinals by a score of 74-69, the Virginia Cavaliers in overtime by a score of 73-65 in the Semifinals, and an 84-76 win against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the conference championship game which also made NC State the first team in ACC Tournament history to win the ACC Tournament after playing in every round of the conference tournament. 

NC State will look to carry over the momentum from the ACC Tournament when it faces the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders had a successful regular season in the Big 12. They finished the regular season in third place in one of the best conferences in college basketball, with a conference record of 11-7 and an overall record of 23-10. They entered the Big 12 Conference Tournament on a three-game winning streak. 

The Red Raiders would advance to the Big 12 Conference Semifinals after defeating the BYU Cougars in the Quarterfinals by a score of 81-67, which extended their winning streak to four games before being blown out in the Big 12 Conference Semifinals by a score of 59-82 against the regular season Big 12 Conference champion, Houston Cougars, on Friday. 

Texas Tech relied on its defense most of the season. It ranked 96^th nationally in defensive efficiency, allowing an average of 69.33 points per game. The Red Raiders will be playing in their 20^th NCAA Tournament and their first since the 2022 NCAA Tournament, in which they advanced to the Sweet 16 as a three-seed before losing to Duke by a score of 73-78. 

In three of the last four times Texas Tech has made it to the NCAA, they have advanced to at least the Sweet 16, including the Elite Eight and the National Championship game. The Red Raiders will look to advance to the 2^nd round of the NCAA Tournament when they face the ACC Tournament Champion, NC State Wolfpack, in the 1^st round of the tournament on Thursday night.

BetOnline has the Texas Tech Red Raiders listed as 5-point favorites against the NC State Wolfpack in Thursday night's 1^st round of the NCAA Tournament. This will be the first time these two programs have faced each other in college basketball in almost 70 years, with the last matchup coming in the 1954-55 college basketball season, which resulted in an 85-74 win for the NC State Wolfpack.

NC State is red hot right now after winning the ACC Tournament with wins over the top three teams in the conference, while Texas Tech is coming off a blowout loss in the Semifinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament against the Houston Cougars by a score of 59-82. The Wolfpack had to play on five consecutive days in the tournament and rode an emotional high when entering the game on Thursday night. 

However, I expect that to be manageable, and I look forward to the Red Raiders having a relatively easy night against NC State. Lay the points with the Texas Tech Red Raiders when they face the NC State Wolfpack in Thursday night's 1^st round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.