What a first weekend. I am sad to see it go, but if the second week of the season is anything like the first, we are all in for a great college basketball season. There were some ranked teams in action yesterday. Indiana crushed Eastern Illinois, Creighton beat Fairleigh Dickinson, and Gonzaga beat Arizona State in the game of the day. North Florida won again and beat a Power Five school again. The victim this time was Georgia Tech. The Osprey now have wins over the SEC and the ACC in just the first week of the year.
Yesterday, I went 16-5 in my picks. That gives me a 7-day total of 247-59 overall. There is not a lot to be excited about today because tomorrow is a huge day of college hoops, but there are still some good games between mid-majors today. There are also a few top-25 teams in action today. Picks for day 8, November 11, 2024, are below.
Air Force over Long Island
Ohio State over Youngstown State
The Citadel over Stetson
Alabama over McNeese
Florida over Grambling
Rutgers over Saint Peter’s
Marshall over Southern Indiana
George Mason over Stony Brook
Pittsburgh over Gardner-Webb
Notre Dame over Buffalo
Missouri over Eastern Washington
Butler over Western Michigan
North Alabama over UT Martin
Furman over Jacksonville
Maryland over Florida A&M
Virginia Tech over Winthrop
Virginia over Coppin State
Tulane over Alcorn State
Iowa State over Kansas City
Texas A&M over Lamar
Purdue over Yale
Oklahoma over Northwestern State
Austin Peay over Chattanooga
SMU over UNC Greensboro
Marquette over Central Michigan
DePaul over Mercer
Bakersfield over North Dakota State
Washington State over Idaho
UCLA over Boston University
Hawaii over Pacific
There are zero games today that have upset potential. That doesn’t mean that one won’t happen but there are none that are likely to happen. As I mentioned earlier, today's slate of games is boring. The best game of the day is Austin Peay and Chattanooga. That is, between two top teams in their respective conferences, both have a lot of expectations this year. That one might be fun. Outside of that game everything else is going to be likely blowout. Enjoy the hoops.