It felt like last night was going to be crazy from the tip of the first game of the night, and it was a crazy night, but it was also an expected night. St. John’s blew out DePaul, and Villanova blew out Seton Hall. Tennessee blew out Western Carolina, and LSU blew out Stetson. That was expected. Let’s get to the unexpected results. South Carolina beat Clemson in Columbia. It was a rivalry game, so not necessarily surprising but unexpected given how both teams had been playing lately. Drake stays undefeated with a win over Kansas State in Kansas City. That is only a quad 3 win for Drake. The Bulldogs might not lose for a long time. I did think North Carolina would finally get a huge win over a good team when they had Florida in Charlotte. The Tar Heels lost by 6 and look very mediocre right now. Dayton only beat UNLV at the University of Dayton arena by 1 point. That was unexpected.
In the mid-major ranks, being a Summit League team was a very good night. Kansas City went on the road and beat Wichita State. The Kangaroos dominated that game and had a double-digit lead for most of the game. Denver went to Cal Poly and gave the Mustangs everything they had. That game won’t mean much, but the Summit League looks surprisingly competitive this year. UC San Diego went to Utah State and beat the previously undefeated Aggies. The Tritons are good, and they are going to be a factor come March that Utah State win will have a lot of staying power.
Yesterday I went 31-11 in my picks. That brings my 44 day total to 1,288-443 overall. There is basketball all day today and the schedule is not too bad today. The Big East resumes conference play, the Valley resumes conference play, the Horizon League resumes conference play, and there are a lot of ranked teams in action. One of those teams is on the road playing a Summit League team. The Jumpman Invitational resumes. The night closes with a rivalry game in the state of Washington between two former conference foes. Picks for day 45, December 18, 2024, are below.
Sacred Heart over Albany
Dartmouth over Le Moyne
Abilene Christian over East Texas A&M
Binghamton over Mercyhurst
UMass Lowell over Stonehill
South Carolina State over South Carolina Upstate
Creighton over Georgetown
La Salle over Fairleigh Dickinson
UConn over Xavier
Memphis over Virginia
UNC Wilmington over Florida Gulf Coast
Long Island over Mount St. Mary’s
Murray State over Indiana State
South Florida over Bethune
Wagner over Manhattan
Temple over Davidson
Central Connecticut over Fairfield
Ohio over Austin Peay
Vermont over Miami Ohio
ETSU over Elon
Campbell over Longwood
William & Mary over Richmond
UMass over Northeastern
George Washington over Lafayette
Wright State over Youngstown State
Northern Kentucky over Detroit Mercy
Queens over Mercer
Saint Joseph’s over American
UT Rio Grande Valley over Southern Utah
UAB over Alabama A&M
Georgia Tech over UMBC
Houston over Toledo
Vanderbilt over The Citadel
North Texas over Mississippi Valley State
Illinois State over Northern Illinois
Saint Louis over Wofford
Oklahoma State over Tarleton State
App State over Louisiana
Loyola Chicago over Canisius
Alabama over North Dakota
Marquette over Butler
Gonzaga over Nicholls
Oklahoma over Michigan
Arizona over Samford
Idaho State over Utah Valley
UC Davis over Idaho
New Mexico over VCU
Santa Barbara over LMU
Bakersfield over Portland
USC over Northridge
Riverside over Montana State
Pacific over Portland State
Santa Clara over Kennesaw State
Washington State over Washington
There is a lot to unpack here in the schedule. Georgetown opens their Big East schedule with a capable, much better team that can beat a shorthanded Creighton team. Marquette hopes to bounce back over a very Jekyll and Hyde Butler team. Michigan and Oklahoma are two ranked teams playing in the Jumpman Classic. That will be the best game of the day. This schedule provides a lot of trap games for mid-majors. UMass should beat Northeastern, but that is a tricky game. San Francisco and Bradley may be one of the best mid-major games of the entire season. Alabama plays at North Dakota in a true road game. Enjoy the hoops.