There were only nine games on the Friday schedule, and in the Big Ten, Nebraska used a late 21-4 run to blowout Indiana in Lincoln. The Huskers desperately needed to get back on track, and they did that. Indiana will be just fine; they looked much better this year than last season. The Hoosiers will be tough in the league. Colorado avoided a potential trap game when they beat South Dakota State at home. The Jackrabbits have been playing very well, but I still don’t know how good Colorado is. Outside of those two games, the only other teams in action were mid- and low-majority teams.
Yesterday, I went 9-0 in my picks. That brings my 40-day total to 1,159-406 overall. It was a dead week at most universities this week, which led to very few games and not many quality games. That all changes on the Saturday before Finals week. There is no college football so all of the focus will be on the hardwood. There is the Indy Classic, Holiday Hoopsgiving, and the AutoZone Orange Bowl Basketball Classic. The Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase, Hall of Fame Rivalry, Garden State Hardwood Classic, Compete 4 Cause Classic, Hall of Fame Series-New York, and the Orange Bowl Classic. All of those events are sandwiched in between a ton of games that all bring about intrigue. We could see a few undefeated teams fall today. Picks for day 41, December 14, 2024, are below.
Clemson over Memphis
Purdue over Texas A&M
South Dakota over Western Illinois
Furman over South Carolina State
Missouri over Long Island
Penn State over Coppin State
Auburn over Ohio State
Youngstown State over Toledo
Louisiana over Lamar
DePaul over Wichita State
Jacksonville over ETSU
Maine over Canisius
Rider over Stony Brook
Cincinnati over Xavier
Western Kentucky over Murray State
UCF over Tulsa
FAU over Texas State
Georgia State over Charlotte
UMass Lowell over Dartmouth
Longwood over NC Central
High Point over App State
UNC Asheville over Western Carolina
South Carolina over South Carolina Upstate
Gardner-Webb over Queens
Wisconsin over Butler
Bryant over Fordham
Georgetown over Syracuse
Arizona over UCLA
UNC Wilmington over Howard
UT Arlington over UL Monroe
Ball State over Bellarmine
California over Northwestern State
Rutgers over Seton Hall
Kansas over NC State
Florida over Arizona State
Ole Miss over Southern Mississippi
Valpo over Central Michigan
Utah State over South Florida
Wagner over NJIT
Arkansas over Central Arkansas
Marshall over Ohio
Northern Arizona over Pepperdine
Stetson over FIU
SMU over LSU
North Carolina over La Salle
Lindenwood over IU Indy
Bradley over Santa Clara
Florida State over Tulane
Jacksonville State over Utah Valley
Washington State over Missouri State
Austin Peay over Southern Illinois
Oregon State over UC Irvine
Providence over St Bonaventure
North Florida over UNC Greensboro
West Virginia over Bethune
Kentucky over Louisville
Tennessee over Illinois
Mississippi State over McNeese
Towson over Duquesne
Niagara over St Francis
Belmont over Richmond
Georgia over Grand Canyon
Marquette over Dayton
Santa Barbara over Green Bay
Fresno State over San Diego
Albany over Drexel
Mount St Mary’s over Loyola MD
Davidson over Detroit Mercy
Utah over Radford
Liberty over North Carolina A&T
VCU over Colorado State
Gonzaga over UConn
Oklahoma over Oklahoma State
Eastern Kentucky over Eastern Illinois
Kansas City over Bowling Green
Alabama over Creighton
Boise State over Saint Mary’s
LMU over Prairie View
BYU over Wyoming
San Jose State over Cal Poly
Nevada over Texas Southern
UC Davis over Sacramento State
UNLV over Pacific
Hawaii over Texas A&M Corpus Christi
There are a lot of great games today and it all starts when the day begins. Clemson looks very good again as an encore to last year’s Elite Eight. They play a very dangerous Memphis team who just recently lost to Arkansas State at home. The Tigers can win that game but Clemson at Littlejohn is very difficult to beat. Florida is on upset watch against Arizona State. Marquette plays at Dayton which is a place that a lot of good teams go to lose. Illinois has a huge opportunity to beat a number 1 team when they play Tennessee in Champaign. The mid-major game that looks like they could end up in an upset are Boise State and St. Mary’s. The Gaels are 9-1 and playing great Basketball, but Boise State is in need of a huge win to jump start their season. What better place to get one?
Finally, the game of the day is going to be UConn and Gonzaga. UConn has not looked great against their premier opponents. They did beat Baylor, but outside of that, they have struggled. This is a huge game to get people talking about UConn again. Gonzaga is coming off a tough loss to Kentucky. That will be a fantastic game with a Final Four feel. Enjoy the hoops.