Last night, there were many games, but nothing notable happened. It was a night of almosts. Kansas State got a scare from Mississippi Valley State, Kansas needed 35 minutes to put away UNC Wilmington, and Minnesota played yet another close game with a mid-major. The Gophers have a terrible time scoring. Michigan State got a game from Samford. DePaul, who is 4-0, struggled to put away Eastern Illinois, and Northwestern needed a late run to beat Montana State. See, almost upsets.
Yesterday, I went 41-4 in my picks. That brings my 16-day total to 535-135 overall. It is Feast Week Eve, and there are not a ton of games of note today because all the teams are traveling to their respective Multi-Team Events. There is one huge game today between two top-25 teams, but outside of that, the schedule looks a lot like yesterday, with a lot of games that could end in a blowout. Picks for day 17, November 20, 2024, are below.
Charleston over The Citadel
Xavier over Siena
Yale over Stony Brook
NC A&T over Morgan State
Austin Peay over Morehead State
Columbia over Long Island
Army over Fairleigh Dickinson
Western Michigan over South Dakota
Northern Illinois over Elon
Ball State over Detroit Mercy
Richmond over Maine
Rhode Island over Lafayette
Dayton over New Mexico State
George Mason over Coppin State
Penn State over Fort Wayne
Virginia Tech over Jacksonville
West Virginia over Iona
Kennesaw State over Abilene Christian
Nicholls over Towson
Texas A&M over Southern
Rutgers over Merrimack
South Dakota State over Southern Mississippi
Tulsa over Little Rock
Murray State over Maryland Eastern Shore
Western Kentucky over Jackson State
Georgetown over Mount St. Mary’s
Gonzaga over Long Beach State
Alabama over Illinois
Grand Canyon over UC Davis
Arizona State over Cal Poly
Santa Barbara over UTEP
UNLV over Pepperdine
Fresno State over Prairie View
USC over San Jose State
Stanford over Norfolk State
Cal Baptist over Northern Colorado
UCLA over Idaho State
One game today is going to grab the attention of the College Basketball world, and that is Alabama and Illinois. Two ranked teams are going at it on a Neutral site. Alabama has the preseason favorite for the National Player of the Year in Mark Sears. The best non-power five game today goes to South Dakota State and Southern Mississippi. Southern Mississippi does have a talented team capable of beating the Jackrabbits, but South Dakota State is so consistent that every year, they get the nod in this game. Enjoy the hoops.