It was a tough night to be a bubble team. The Tuesday games were not kind to teams trying to make the tournament. Vanderbilt got blown out by Alabama. UCF got blown out by Iowa State, SMU got beat by 30 by Louisville on their home court, Cincinnati got beat by Texas Tech, North Carolina got beat by Wake Forest, and Finally, let’s put Iowa to bed; they just got beat at home by Minnesota. All the teams who lost are solidly on the Bubble, and these losses will not help their cause, especially those that lost to current non-NCAA tournament teams.
It wasn’t a good night to be a ranked team either. Purdue lost in Mackey to Ohio State. It was the first loss in 26 games for Purdue at their home arena and it was to a team who isn’t great but made enough shots down the stretch to win the game. The Boilers had a terrible time shooting last night. Wisconsin lost to UCLA in Pauley Pavilion. That is not a terrible loss for the Badgers in any way and won’t hurt them much. Missouri lost to Texas in Austin. The Tigers and Longhorns are both solidly in the field. West Virginia lost to Arizona State in Morgantown. The Mountaineers are solidly in the field, this loss doesn’t mean much. Lastly, Mississippi State got blasted by Tennessee in Knoxville. The Bulldogs had a terrible time trying to run the offense with the intensity of the Tennessee defense. The Volunteers are a good team and almost impossible to beat at home.
Here are some other notable results from Tuesday night. Miami-Ohio and Akron both won to remain undefeated in the MAC. George Mason beat St. Bonaventure and the Patriots are now in outright first place in the Atlantic 10. The Bradley Braves just keep on winning; they move to 8-1 in the Valley and now have a 2-game lead on Drake for the regular season title. It would be astonishing for Bradley to not win the MVC at this point in the season.
The games today have the same feel as the Tuesday games. A lot is riding on the games today, especially for Bubble Teams. There are teams trying to break long-losing streaks, ranked teams trying to avoid an upset, bubble teams desperately need huge wins, and teams trying to win their first conference. There are six ranked teams in action and one game between two ranked teams. Picks for day 76, January 22, 2025, are below.
Winner | Loser |
|---|---|
Houston | Utah |
Holy Cross | Army |
Furman | VMI |
Youngstown State | Robert Morris |
Florida | South Carolina |
Kansas | TCU |
St. John's | Xavier |
Radford | Longwood |
High Point | South Carolina Upstate |
UNC Asheville | Gardner-Webb |
South Florida | Charlotte |
Clemson | Syracuse |
Georgia Tech | Virginia Tech |
UMass | George Washington |
Murray State | Southern Illinois |
Navy | Boston University |
Loyola Maryland | Lafayette |
American | Lehigh |
Northwestern | Indiana |
Old Dominion | James Madison |
Georgia Southern | Coastal Carolina |
Cleveland State | Detroit Mercy |
Fort Wayne | Oakland |
IU Indy | Green Bay |
Wright State | Milwaukee |
UNC Greensboro | Mercer |
ETSU | Western Carolina |
Wofford | The Citadel |
Presbyterian | Charleston Southern |
Drake | Valpo |
Colorado State | Boise State |
North Texas | Temple |
Saint Louis | La Salle |
Loyola Chicago | Fordham |
Illinois Chicago | Evansville |
Nebraska | USC |
Ole Miss | Texas A&M |
Baylor | Kansas State |
California | Florida State |
Utah State | Nevada |
Arkansas | Georgia |
San Diego State | Air Force |
Stanford | Miami |
One game stands out above the rest on Wednesday, and that is Texas A&M traveling to Ole Miss. Ole Miss got their signature win last week when they beat Alabama on the road, the Rebels have held serve in every other game and have not lost to anyone they were not supposed to lose to. Texas A&M does have a win over Purdue but is still looking for a big win in SEC play. Winning in Oxford would be a big step in the right direction. Neither of these teams will lose any ground in the NCAA tournamen,t seeding with a loss. Enjoy the Hoops!