Every day I like to give a theme of the previous night in college basketball. The theme for last night was concern. I am concerned about some teams and for entirely different reasons. UCLA got blasted by Maryland in Washington DC. I am concerned that UCLA is not as tough as we all thought. There are few teams as physical as the Terrapins, especially underneath the basket. The Bruins were challenged by head coach Mick Cronin, and they failed this test. They need to get better in a hurry.
There is one more team that I am concerned about but for an entirely different reason. I am concerned for Minnesota. Wisconsin had little trouble defeating the Gophers, the result was expected, but Minnesota, who looked to have turned a corner against Ohio State, was back to their old self tonight. I am concerned the Gophers will go 0-20 in the Big Ten, which would be quite a feat.
The theme for today is opportunity. Opportunity awaits many teams as they get big-time games at home, and some even get big-time games on the road., There are key games most of the day and in every conference. Opportunity awaits as everyone hopes to pick up a huge win that will help them in March. Picks for day 65 January 10, 2025, are below
Winner | Loser |
|---|---|
Duke | Notre Dame |
Illinois | USC |
Pitt | Louisville |
St. Bonaventure | La Salle |
Yale | Brown |
Creighton | Butler |
Auburn | South Carolina |
Indiana State | Belmont |
New Mexico | San Diego State |
Lafayette | Holy Cross |
UMass Lowell | NJIT |
Binghamton | New Hampshire |
App State | James Madison |
Charleston | Monmouth |
UNC Wilmington | Hofstra |
Ohio | Northern Illinois |
Iowa State | Texas Tech |
Georgetown | UConn |
Cincinnati | Kansas |
Memphis | East Carolina |
Radford | South Carolina Upstate |
Presbyterian | UNC Asheville |
Winthop | Longwood |
Northwestern State | East Texas A&M |
BYU | TCU |
Rice | Temple |
Tulane | South Florida |
Clemson | Florida State |
George Mason | UMass |
Davidson | Fordham |
Colgate | Boston University |
Lehigh | Army |
Columbia | Cornell |
Princeton | Harvard |
Dartmouth | Penn |
Albany | Maine |
Youngstown State | Cleveland State |
William & Mary | North Carolina A & T |
Drexel | Towson |
Hampton | Delaware |
Florida Gulf Coast | Central Arkansas |
Omaha | South Dakota State |
Ball State | Bowling Green |
Boston College | Syracuse |
Saint Joseph's | Loyola Chicago |
Bradley | Illinois-Chicago |
San Jose State | Air Force |
South Alabama | Old Dominion |
Texas State | Southern Mississippi |
North Dakota State | Denver |
Western Kentucky | Kennesaw State |
Missouri | Vanderbilt |
Miami Ohio | Western Michigan |
Akron | Eastern Michigan |
Sam Houston | FIU |
Florida | Arkansas |
Colorado State | UNLV |
Wichita State | UTSA |
SMU | GeorgiaTech |
Stanford | Virginia |
North Carolina | NC State |
Howard | Morgan State |
NC Central | Maryland Eastern Shore |
South Carolina State | Delaware State |
Murray State | Valpo |
American | Bucknell |
Alabama A&M | Alcorn State |
Bryant | Vermont |
DePaul | Xavier |
Eastern Washington | Sacramento State |
Marshall | Georgia Southern |
Georgia State | Coastal Carolina |
Milwaukee | Green Bay |
Hawaii | Fullerton |
North Alabama | Stetson |
Eastern Kentucky | Jacksonville |
Utah Valley | Cal Baptist |
ETSU | The Citadel |
Norfolk State | Coppin State |
Alabama State | Jackson State |
Texas A & M Corpus Christi | UT Rio Grande Valley |
Houston Christian | Incarnate Word |
Troy | Arkansas State |
Western Illinois | Tennessee State |
UT Martin | Lindenwood |
Morehead State | SEMO |
Navy | Loyola Maryland |
McNeese | Nicholls |
Portland State | Idaho |
Providence | Seton Hall |
Lipscomb | West Georgia |
Queens | Austin Peay |
UC Davis | Long Beach State |
SIU Edwardsville | Tennessee Tech |
Wake Forest | Miami |
Bethune | Grambling |
Tennessee | Texas |
Houston | Kansas State |
Georgia | Oklahoma |
Ole Miss | LSU |
California | Virginia Tech |
Richmond | Rhode Island |
Drake | Evansville |
Southern | Florida A & M |
Montana | Northern Colorado |
Southeastern Louisiana | New Orleans |
Northern Kentucky | Oakland |
Samford | UNC Greensboro |
Middle Tennessee | Jacksonville State |
North Florida | Bellarmine |
High Point | Gardner-Webb |
Utah | Oklahoma State |
Missouri State | Southern Illinois |
Illinois State | Northern Iowa |
Nevada | Fresno State |
Prairie View | Mississippi Valley State |
Lamar | Stephen F. Austin |
St. John's | Villanova |
Fort Wayne | Detroit Mercy |
Northeastern | Stony Brook |
Santa Clara | San Francisco |
LMU | Pepperdine |
Alabama | Texas A&M |
Iowa | Indiana |
Montana State | Northern Arizona |
Weber State | Idaho State |
Louisiana | Louisiana Monroe |
Santa Barbara | Cal Poly |
St. Thomas | South Dakota |
Oral Roberts | North Dakota |
Louisiana Tech | Liberty |
Mississippi State | Kentucky |
Southern Utah | UT Arlington |
Gonzaga | Washington State |
Utah State | Boise State |
Utah Tech | Tarleton State |
UTEP | New Mexico State |
Baylor | Arizona State |
Northridge | Bakersfield |
Arizona | UCF |
UC San Diego | UC Irvine |
Saint Mary's | San Diego |
Oregon State | Pacific |
Seattle | Abilene Christian |
The first opportunity game takes us to the Big East where Butler hosts Creighton. The Bulldogs are in desperate need of any win and Creighton has a good resume that is lacking in road wins. The Bluejays have to get some wins away from home to solidify their NCAA tournament resume. That game will be a great game because there is so much on the line for both teams.
Staying in the Big East the Georgetown Hoyas are sitting at 12-3 and welcome the UConn Huskies to DC. If there was even a game to announce that Ed Cooley has turned around Georgetown, a win over the two time defending champions would be the way to do it. UConn just recently lost to Villanova and head into the game with Georgetown hoping for a win. The Huskies will have to play much better to leave DC with a win.
There is a huge game in the Big 12 when Cincinnati hosts Kansas. The Jayhawks are finally starting to look like a National Title contender this year. Cincinnati sits at 0-3 in the Big 12 and needs a win in a big way. The Fifth Third Center is going to be rocking and the Bearcats do have the guard play to beat the Jayhawks. Cincinnati is not a bottom tier Big 12 team and will prove that today.
Two mid-major games make this cut. New Mexico hosts San Diego State, and the Lobos need to start getting some good wins to erase the quad 4 loss brought on by the loss to New Mexico State. San Diego State heads to the Pit hoping to avoid losing their second conference game in January. Finally, UC San Diego, one of the country's best mid majors, gets UC Irvine to come to their building. The Tritons can control their own destiny in the Big West if they were to beat the favorites in the league. UC Irvine may have some annual competition every year in the Big West. Enjoy the hoops!