There was a lot that happened on the last Monday of 2024 so let’s talk about it. Rutgers beat Columbia in Piscataway. Sensational freshman Dylan Harper had the first Rutgers triple-double in the last 40 years. Michigan State blew out Western Michigan in East Lansing. Iowa blew out New Hampshire, and Nebraska blew out Southern. The next 18 games for all of those teams are all conference games. The Big 10 is deep and will be a lot of fun to watch.
There were some upsets yesterday that will have some big implications for the teams that lost. Kansas State got a huge win over Cincinnati in Manhattan. The Wildcats needed that win to get them back on track. Coach Tang hopes that the win can be used as a springboard to turn the season around. San Diego went into the game with Pacific with 3 wins and they left with 4 wins. San Diego starts 1-0 in the West Coast and Pacific, who looks better starts at 0-2 and looked overmatched by the league.
Then there were some teams who avoided upsets. Iowa State was a team I said to watch because they played in the mountains of Boulder, but they didn’t have much trouble with Colorado. Gonzaga avoided a huge upset against Pepperdine in Malibu. Princeton avoided a huge upset against Akron. The Tigers just beat Rutgers and want to keep the positive momentum that they have. Finally, South Carolina avoided a loss to Presbyterian. That loss would have been bad for the Gamecocks considering they already lost to North Florida this year.
In the other games yesterday. Arizona beat TCU, Houston beat Oklahoma State, Oregon State gets on the board in the West Coast Conference as they beat Portland. Auburn blew out Monmouth, Mississippi State beat Bethune, Arkansas beat Oakland, and Grand Canyon blew out Bryant. As mentioned earlier, there was a lot going on Monday.
There are games all day today, beginning with ACC conference play. The Big 12, the Big East, Ohio Valley, and the Mountain West all resume play today. The American, Atlantic 10, and the WAC all begin conference play. Non-conference play will be over after today, and everything from here on out will be conference play as everyone marches towards the NCAA tournament. Picks for day 54, December 31, 2024, are below
Winner | Loser |
|---|---|
NC State | Virginia |
Kansas | West Virginia |
Kentucky | Brown |
Baylor | Utah |
Texas Tech | UCF |
Charlotte | Tulane |
Wake Forest | Syracuse |
St. Bonaventure | VCU |
Saint Joseph's | UMass |
Fordham | Saint Louis |
Rhode Island | Duquesne |
Dayton | La Salle |
George Mason | Davidson |
Xavier | Seton Hall |
Notre Dame | Georgia Tech |
Tennessee | Norfolk State |
East Carolina | South Florida |
BYU | Arizona State |
North Texas | UAB |
Abilene Christian | Stephen F. Austin |
George Washington | Richmond |
UNLV | Air Force |
Creighton | St. John's |
Duke | Virginia Tech |
Colorado State | San Jose State |
Marquette | Providence |
New Mexico | Fresno State |
Boise State | Wyoming |
Morehead State | Southern Indiana |
Utah State | Nevada |
There are a lot of games to choose from today, but Creighton and St. John’s are games of tremendous importance. St. John’s needs a great road win, and the Bluejays need a lot more good wins, especially after they beat Kansas in Omaha. The arena will be hopping and Creighton doesn’t usually lose there. I don’t think tomorrow will be any different.
Virginia and NC State will be a good game for all the opposite reasons. The Wolfpack are trying to find their identity after losing a lot of their final four teams last season. NC State still does not have any great wins. Virginia is bad on offense and has struggled under interim coach Ron Sanchez. The Cavaliers need a win to get back on track. Enjoy the hoops