The Tuesday night schedule was going to be one of the best nights of basketball that the 2024-2025 season had all year long. There were 12 ranked teams in action last night; 5 of them lost, and two of the teams who lost were in the top 5. Ole Miss went to Alabama and came out with the win. Missouri went into Florida and beat the Gators. The Rebels and Tigers now have two of the best wins in the country. It will be hard for another bubble team to top those wins.
Auburn played Mississippi State at home in their first major test without star Johni Broome they passed with flying colors. The Tigers blew out the Bulldogs. Illinois went to Assembly Hall and beat Indiana by 30. The Hoosiers had two good weeks but now have two back-to-back losses by 20 or more. Kentucky beat Texas A&M at Rupp, and Wisconsin beat Ohio State at the Kohl Center. Baylor got blasted by Arizona, Duke blasted Miami, and the most surprising result of the night came in the Big East. DePaul took Marquette to Overtime before finally losing by two points. The Blue Demons are still winless in the Big East, but a win is coming. I can feel it.
Those were not the only games that had meaning. Villanova made it a lot harder for them to make the tournament blowing a late lead against Xavier. The Wildcats had the lead most of the night until the final minutes before finally losing. Arkansas might be done now after losing to LSU. The Razorbacks are going to need to beat the top of the league to have a shot. San Jose State beat New Mexico. That game will likely end the at large hopes for the Lobos. I told you, yesterday was jam-packed.
The Wednesday schedule is nowhere close to as good as Tuesday was, but eight ranked teams play, and there are two games between ranked teams and one of those games is between two top 10 teams. Two of the ranked teams are on the road in games that they could lose. The rest of the day features teams who are undefeated in league play, hoping to keep that streak alive, and one bubble team who desperately needs wins to remain in the NCAA tournament field. Picks for day 69, January 15, 2025, are below.
Winner | Loser |
---|---|
Lafayette | Army |
Boston University | Lehigh |
Vanderbilt | South Carolina |
VMI | Western Carolina |
UNC Asheville | South Carolina Upstate |
Winthrop | Charleston Southern |
Wake Forest | Stanford |
Davidson | La Salle |
Iowa State | Kansas |
Radford | Gardner-Webb |
South Florida | UAB |
North Carolina | California |
NC State | Virginia Tech |
St. Bonaventure | Richmond |
Fordham | UMass |
George Washington | Duquesne |
Dayton | George Mason |
Missouri State | Southern Illinois |
Navy | Colgate |
Bucknell | Holy Cross |
Butler | Seton Hall |
Fort Wayne | Wright State |
Oakland | IU Indy |
Cleveland State | Northern Kentucky |
Chattanooga | Wofford |
Samford | Mercer |
Furman | ETSU |
UNC Greensboro | The Citadel |
Michigan State | Penn State |
FAU | Tulane |
Troy | UL Monroe |
Tennessee | Georgia |
Houston | West Virginia |
TCU | Utah |
Murray State | UIC |
Bradley | Illinois State |
Texas State | Georgia State |
South Alabama | Southern Mississippi |
Cincinnati | Colorado |
Virginia | SMU |
Pitt | Florida State |
Loyola Chicago | Rhode Island |
Drake | Illinois State |
Omaha | Denver |
Purdue | Washington |
Oklahoma | Texas |
UNLV | Utah State |
There are two games that all eyes are going to be on tonight. Iowa State hosts Kansas and both of those teams are in the top 10 of the rankings. Iowa State currently sits at number 2 in the rankings, and many think they should be number 1. They are almost unbeatable at Hilton, and they have the horses to beat Kansas. The Jayhawks were a team that was a lock to win the National Title in the offseason but took some losses. Kansas is still Kansas, and it should surprise no one if they win the game.
The other game of the night takes place in Knoxville. Tennessee, who was number 1 in the country until this week due to the Volunteers getting smoked by 30 at Florida, hosts the upstart and surprising Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia has already beaten Kentucky, St. John’s, and Oklahoma. They are more than capable of beating Tennessee. The Volunteers are one of the best teams in the country, and if they play, their style should beat Georgia by double digits, but you never know what is going to happen. Enjoy the hoops!