On a Sunday that was dominated by the NFL Conference Championship games, there were only 13 basketball games, and most of them were in the Big Ten. Wisconsin blew out Nebraska at the Kohl Center. That is now the sixth straight loss for the Huskers, and they have officially hit rock bottom. Wisconsin is dangerous when they are hitting threes at a high rate, and they look like a second-weekend team. Illinois had a huge bounceback win against Northwestern at home. Maryland picked up their second straight road win against Indiana.
Not much else happened yesterday, but Memphis did hold serve and blew out UAB. Texas Tech beat Oklahoma State. Long Island lost to Mercyhurst. Normally, that game wouldn’t matter, but since I do like to talk about conference leaders, the Sharks are now tied with the NEC preseason favorite Central Connecticut. Those teams will be a 16 seed, but the league is still competitive and don’t forget Fairleigh Dickinson is in that league and beat Zach Edey and Purdue two seasons ago.
Late Night Monday is the theme for today. There are huge games on the West Coast tonight and one of them is a rivalry game between two teams in the same city. The Big Ten has a lot of games like they always do. The ACC and Big 12 have huge games today as well. If mid-majors are more your style, then enjoy games in the Southland, SWAC, Sun Belt, Ohio Valley, CAA, and Patriot League. Picks for day 81 January 27, 2025, are below.
Winner | Loser |
|---|---|
Little Rock | Eastern Illinois |
Bethune | Alcorn State |
Troy | Southern Mississippi |
Michigan | Penn State |
Pine Bluff | Grambling |
Boston University | Holy Cross |
Southeastern Louisiana | Houston Christian |
UT Rio Grande Valley | Nicholls |
South Alabama | UL Monroe |
Jackson State | Florida A&M |
Ohio State | Iowa |
McNeese | Texas A&M Corpus Christi |
Lamar | Northwestern State |
Incarnate Word | New Orleans |
Duke | NC State |
Stephen F. Austin | East Texas A&M |
Alabama State | Texas Southern |
Southern | Mississippi Valley State |
Alabama A&M | Prairie View |
Northeastern | Towson |
USC | UCLA |
Arizona | Iowa State |
The West Coast is the place to be tonight. There is a huge game taking place in Tucson when Iowa State comes and visits Arizona. The Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 now all have teams who will have to take cross-country trips. It is draining on the traveling teams, which is why Arizona has the advantage tonight.
The Cyclones are one of the best teams in the country and have proven that all season long. The Wildcats didn’t start out excellent but have picked it up in conference play, and both teams are 7-1 in the league entering tonight’s matchup. Enjoy the Hoops!