NCAA Basketball: Picks for Day 63 of 2024-25 season featuring Rutgers vs Purdue

Wednesday was not supposed to be as good as the Tuesday games.  Overall, it wasn’t, but a lot still happened. Villanova and head coach Kyle Neptune have turned the corner and are playing what looks like Wildcats basketball again.  Villanova beat UConn in Philly after losing a double-digit lead in the second half.  UConn had a chance to tie the game with 3 seconds left at the free throw line but missed them both to secure the win for Villanova.  That win might be the program-defining moment for coach Neptune.

There were plenty more games filled with drama last night and late comebacks.  Notre Dame blew a huge lead against NC State to lose by 1 point.  NC State hit the winning free throw with 11 seconds left.  UCF beat Colorado with a block on an inbounds play with 4 seconds left.  UCF had just turned the ball over on their final possession to give Colorado one last look at the basket.   That shot was blocked, and the Knights escaped with a win.  Texas A&M was down by 18 in the second half and hit the go-ahead three with 19 seconds left to escape Oklahoma.  All the road teams in SEC action won yesterday.  Ole Miss beat Arkansas, and Alabama beat South Carolina.

The best of the rest of the games included Murray State going to Cedar Falls and beating Northern Iowa.  The Racers now have back-to-back wins on the road against Drake and Northern Iowa.  Those are good Valley wins, and Murray State looks to be a factor in that conference this year. Miami lost to Florida State.  The Hurricanes are a mess and arguably America's worst-power conference team. It is time to sound the alarm on Dayton.  They lost to a bad UMass team, and the at-large chances for Dayton are virtually zero now.  Finally, a shout-out to George Washington.  The Revolutionaries have two fantastic wins in the A10 back-to-back after struggling in the league a year ago.

There is a large quantity of quality games on Thursday.  The Big Ten has some fantastic matchups with two top 20 teams on upset watch.  The America East and their top two teams face off today. A Big West team goes for a 41-game losing streak against one of the best mid-major teams in the country this year.  Finally, the top 2 teams in the CAA face off against each other.  Picks for day 63 January 9, 2025, are below.

There are two Big Ten games featuring top 20 teams that both have huge upset potential. Rutgers, led by Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, host Purdue.  Let’s all remember that Purdue no longer has Zach Edey and Lance Jones.  They are still a good team, but losing those calibers of players will affect any team. Rutgers has beaten Purdue 3 out of the last 4 times they have played them at Jersey Mike’s arena.  If Dylan Harper is healthy, it could happen again tonight.  Purdue is only favored by 2 points in this game.

The next game is one I am not sure about and does have a potential to be an upset.  Oregon heads to Columbus to play Ohio State.  I have made it known how I feel about Ohio State.  I do not think they are great, but they do match up well with Oregon.  The Ducks are making their first trek to the Midwest and have struggled at home the last two games.  Oregon is the better team, but it is looking to be a very tough task winning on the road in the Big Ten and this game shouldn’t be any different.  Enjoy the Hoops.