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.