NCAA Basketball: Picks for Day 42 of 2024-25 season

It was quite a Saturday, especially after a rough week of games. So much happened, and so many great games took place. Let’s get into it. Memphis avenged their loss to Arkansas State by beating Clemson at Littlejohn. That will be one of the best road wins in the country come March. Texas A&M beat Purdue, Auburn beat Ohio State by 40, and Cincinnati won the battle of Cincinnati over Xavier. UCF beat Tulsa, Georgetown went into Syracuse and won. Georgetown got a win to give them some confidence going forward. The Orange are not great, but the Hoyas needed something to be excited about. Wisconsin beat Butler, and UCLA came back late to beat Arizona. That was just in the first window. 

The battle of New Jersey goes to Rutgers, who beat Seton Hall on a Dylan Harper buzzer-beater. Kansas beat NC State in the Phog, and Florida blew out Arizona State. That was a game I had viewed as a potential upset. SMU beat LSU, North Carolina blew out La Salle, Florida State beat Tulane, Kentucky beat Louisville, and finally, Tennessee used a Jordan Gainey buzzer-beater to beat Illinois in Champaign. That game was fantastic. It went back and forth, and no one could take more than a two-possession lead. Providence is struggling this year as they dropped a game to St. Bonaventure.

Then in the late window. Mississippi State survived a scare from McNeese, Georgia beat a good Grand Canyon team, and Dayton upset Marquette, which was one that I figured would happen. It is so hard to win at the University of Dayton arena, and Marquette found out. UConn has been fantastic in the continental United States, they have not lost a game in the lower 48 as they get a win over Gonzaga in New York. Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State, and Alabama beat a short-handed Creighton team in Tuscaloosa. Finally, Boise State finished the upset over Saint Mary’s. The Gaels had been rolling, but Boise State was due for their signature non-conference win.

Yesterday, I went 63-20 in my picks, which brings my 41-day total to 1,222-426 overall. Saturday was the best day of games we are going to get for another week. Teams head into finals week on Monday so most of the power schools are not going to play today but will be back in action after the Finals and Christmas holiday. Picks for day 42, December 15, 2024, are below.

South Alabama over East Texas A&M

Hofstra over Temple

Virginia Tech over Navy

Iowa State over Omaha

Northeastern over Old Dominion

Northern Kentucky over Norfolk State

Rhode Island over Central Connecticut

Milwaukee over Akron

Little Rock over Illinois Chicago

Campbell over Morgan State

Colgate over Vermont

Chattanooga over Alabama A&M

Mercer over Chicago State

North Dakota State over Western Michigan

Fort Wayne over Eastern Michigan

Miami over Presbyterian

Iowa over New Orleans

North Dakota over UTSA

Texas over Pine Bluff

Northwestern over Georgia Tech

Boston College over Stonehill

Fullerton over Denver

Kent State over Mercyhurst

Illinois State over Saint Louis

Oregon over Stephen F. Austin

Arkansas State over UAB

Loyola Chicago over San Francisco

UC San Diego over Idaho

USC over Montana State

There are a lot of games that could result in blowouts. Something to keep in mind here, though, is that most students are not going to be on campus for the duration of the week, so there are going to be a lot of low and mid-majors who win games they shouldn’t. Tomorrow, that could be Montana State when they play at USC. However, the ones I am watching are Presbyterian and Miami.

The Hurricanes are not playing good basketball right now, and the Blue Hose have improved much this year. Watch for that one, even though I picked Miami to win. The best game of the day is Northwestern and Georgia Tech. Neither team is great, which should make that one ultra-competitive. Enjoy the hoops.