NCAA Basketball: Picks for Day 12 of 2024-25 season

Yesterday's schedule didn’t have much, but there was one notable result last night. Arizona State beat Grand Canyon. Now, that doesn’t seem like much, but if you had been following along, you would know that Arizona State got smoked in their exhibition, had trouble scoring in their first two games, and then in the last week have taken Gonzaga to the wire and beaten a very good Grand Canyon team. Grand Canyon is expected to win the WAC going away again. The result was notable. That was it for the big games last night.

Yesterday I went 13-6 overall. That brings my 11-day total to 361-91 overall. If the Thursday slate was bad the Friday slate is exceptional. There are huge games all over the place, and there is daytime basketball today. There are some good holiday tournaments that start today as well. The Greenbrier Tip-Off River Division starts today. The Urban-Bennett Invitational started yesterday and continues today. The Hall of Fame Series-Baltimore starts today, and finally, the Field of 68 Tip-Off begins. The Big 5 games continue today, and mini-events, the College Hill Classic, Rock Hill Classic, and the Bronco Classic, all begin. Picks for day 12 November 15, 2024, are below.

UT Rio Grande Valley over Charleston Southern

Tennessee Tech over VMI

New Orleans over Stonehill

Sacred Heart over Holy Cross

Western Michigan over SIU Edwardsville

Winthrop over William & Mary

Virginia over Villanova

Florida over Florida State

Michigan over TCU

Rutgers over Monmouth

Alabama over Purdue

Cincinnati over Nicholls

Gardner-Webb over Elon

Old Dominion over Maryland Eastern Shore

Furman over Tulane

Charleston over FAU

Belmont over Air Force

Robert Morris over Lindenwood

Quinnipiac over Maine

South Florida over West Georgia

Marist over Army

Brown over New Hampshire

High Point over UAB

UNC Wilmington over South Carolina Upstate

Princeton over Loyola Chicago

Fordham over Manhattan

Temple over Boston College

Vermont over Iona

SMU over Butler

Georgia Southern over NC Central

Penn State over Virginia Tech

North Carolina over American

Marquette over Maryland

Memphis over Ohio

Northwestern over Eastern Illinois

Georgia over Georgia Tech

Pitt over West Virginia

Saint Joseph’s over Penn

Iowa over Washington State

North Alabama over Samford

Gonzaga over UMass Lowell

Arizona over Wisconsin

Texas A&M over Ohio State

DePaul over Duquesne

Cal Baptist over Long Island

Oregon State over Fullerton

UCLA over Lehigh

There is a lot to like tonight. There is a game that will make any fan happy. Alabama and Purdue is the game of the night. It is two final four teams who are both projected to go far in March again this year. Alabama has the preseason favorite for Player of the Year in Mark Sears, and Purdue has the likely Big Ten Player of the Year in Braden Smith. The game will be excellent. The second-best game of the night is between Texas A&M and Ohio State. Two top-25 teams and the Aggies are loaded and come at you from all directions. Ohio State is playing very well under new head coach Jake Diebler. That one could be a close game.

Arizona and Wisconsin is a game that I don’t think will be all that close, but a lot of people like that game. If you are a mid-major fan, tune into High Point, UAB, North Alabama, and Samford. Each of those games has the potential for a lot of scoring.