The full NCAA Tournament bracket has been established, and the stage is set for this year’s iteration of March Madness. But before the action gets in full swing, the First Four matchups will take place to cement the field of 64. Tipping off on Wednesday, March 18th, with a matchup against the 1st-seeded Florida Gators on the line, the Prairie View Panthers will face off with the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.
Prairie View Panthers vs. Lehigh Mountain Hawks Opening Odds
Looking at the odds on DraftKings Sportsbook, Lehigh opens as a 1.5-point favorite and holds -120 odds of winning outright. Prairie View holds +100 odds of winning outright, with the game total set at 148.5.
The Prairie View Panthers went just 18-17 this season overall, but caught fire in the conference tournament to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference and officially earn a March Madness bid. They also qualified for the First Four in the 2018-19 season, and have just one other NCAA Tournament appearance, which took place in 1997-98, also as a 16-seed. Dontae Horne headlines the production for this Prairie View team that is on a seven-game winning streak and will hope to carry this momentum.
The Lehigh Mountain Hawks hold a similar story as they hold an 18-16 overall record, but finished the season on a six-game winning streak and won the Patriot League Tournament. This is the program’s sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but its first since the 2011-12 season. Nasir Whitlock leads the team and the entire Patriot Conference with 21.0 points per game and will continue to lead the charge in this matchup.
While the looming matchup with top-seeded Florida is an intimidating reward, the two teams will face off at the University of Dayton on Wednesday night to earn the trip to Tampa, Florida, for the opening round.
