It didn’t look like there would be much to talk about with the Friday schedule, but we were all wrong. It was the night of improbable comebacks. In the first game of the day, Valpo was down 21 points with 6 minutes left in the game. The Beacons went on a 24-2 run in that time and won the game with a half-cour three. It was a heartbreaking loss for Western Michigan who had dominated the game up until that point.
In the HBCU Classic games, Norfolk State hung on to win after they jumped out to a huge lead before Grambling went on a huge run to end the game but didn’t have quite enough to get over the hump. The Spartans are still undefeated in the event. In the final game of the HBCU Classic, Delaware State beat Alabama State. The Alabama State Hornets made a ton of threes to get back in that game but the Delaware State Hornets were too talented. They were able to hang on for a three-point win.
In the other games on Friday night, Texas A&M blew out Houston Christian, BYU blew out Florida A&M, Yale beat Akron, Penn beat Rider, Holy Cross beat Siena, and finally, Longwood beat North Carolina Central. Longwood is the best team in the Big South. The game of the day followed the theme. Cincinnati jumped out to a huge lead late in the second half, and Dayton came charging back but ran out of gas when the clock expired. That game was not as close as the show scored. In the Big East, St. John’s beat Providence to move to 2-0 in the league.
The final Saturday before the Christmas holiday is upon us, and the sport is going to have to compete with the College Football Playoff. I say bring on the challenge because we have ACC, Big East, Mountain West, Sun Belt, and Ohio Valley conference play. There are a ton of instate rivalry games today. The CBS Sports Classic, Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, and San Jose Tip-Off all begin today. The number 2 team in the country plays today against a top 20 team, and numerous other top 25 teams are in action. Picks for day 47, December 21, 2024, are below.
Winner | Loser |
|---|---|
Duke | Georgia Tech |
Florida | North Florida |
Marquette | Xavier |
UConn | Butler |
Northern Kentucky | South Carolina State |
SMU | Boston College |
Vermont | Dartmouth |
Rutgers | Princeton |
Penn State | Drexel |
Indiana | Chattanooga |
Maryland | Syracuse |
Saint Joseph's | Virginia Tech |
Memphis | Mississippi State |
Fairfield | Monmouth |
Marist | UMBC |
Maine | Stony Brook |
Robert Morris | St Francis |
Navy | Coppin State |
Long Island | Lehigh |
Loyola Maryland | Hampton |
Central Connecticut | Quinnipiac |
Presbyterian | Manhattan |
St. Bonaventure | Niagara |
Youngstown State | South Carolina Upstate |
Pitt | Sam Houston |
Texas Tech | Lamar |
Houston | Texas A&M Corpus Christi |
Michigan State | Florida Atlantic |
Clemson | Wake Forest |
Eastern Kentucky | Jacksonville State |
Florida State | Louisville |
UMass Lowell | Boston University |
Northridge | Chicago State |
Eastern Michigan | Wright State |
St Thomas | Bowling Green |
Ball State | Evansville |
Kansas City | ETSU |
High Point | Southern Illinois= |
Winthrop | Mercer |
UNC Wilmington | UNC Asheville |
Liberty | UT Arlington |
Fordham | Albany |
Miami | Mount St. Mary's |
Minnesota | Fairleigh Dickinson |
James Madison | South Alabama |
Troy | Georgia State |
Bradley | Canisius |
Arkansas | North Carolina A&T |
UC Irvine | Duquesne |
UCLA | North Carolina |
Pepperdine | UC Davis |
UNLV | Riverside |
South Florida | East Texas A&M |
East Carolina | Gardner-Webb |
Tulsa | Mississippi Valley State |
Vanderbilt | Austin Peay |
Furman | Harvard |
Marshall | Southern Mississippi |
UL Monroe | Old Dominion |
Arkansas State | Coastal Carolina |
Colorado | Bellarmine |
Boise State | Air Force |
Texas State | Georgia Southern |
Morehead State | Tennessee State |
Portland | Lafayette |
Abilene Christian | Texas Southern |
Arizona | Central Michigan |
Samford | Alabama A&M |
Southern Utah | Northern Arizona |
Pacific | Idaho |
Creighton | Villanova |
Arizona State | UMass |
Northern Iowa | Washington State |
Northwestern | DePaul |
Little Rock | Eastern Illinois |
Auburn | Purdue |
Southern Indiana | UT Martin |
Westen Illinois | Lindenwood |
Southeast Missouri | SIU Edwardsville |
Ole Miss | Queens |
Santa Clara | South Dakota |
Nevada | Colorado State |
Cal Baptist | Fresno State |
Davidson | Bethune |
Northern Colorado | Denver |
Kentucky | Ohio State |
Drake | Green Bay |
FIU | IU Indy |
San Francisco | Montana |
Richmond | VMI |
UCF | Jacksonville |
Iowa | Utah |
Rhode Island | Temple |
Akron | Jackson State |
Elon | UNC Greensboro |
Kansas State | Wichita State |
Oregon | Stanford |
Omaha | Cal Poly |
Gonzaga | Bucknell |
UTEP | Yale |
UC San Diego | San Diego |
Weber State | Utah Valley |
Bakersfield | Portland State |
San Diego State | California |
San Jose State | Kennesaw State |
There are so many games, and it's hard to know where to begin. Michigan State will have its hands full with Florida Atlantic. That game will be extremely high scoring. Memphis and Mississippi State are between two defensive-minded teams who don't have to score many points to win. That one will be fun for different reasons. Iowa gets Utah at home. It is time to see what each of those teams is made of. North Carolina plays UCLA. Can the Tar Heels finally get a feel-good win? Kentucky should blow out Ohio State.
The best game of the day is in the late afternoon on ESPN and it is Auburn and Purdue. The Tigers have the overwhelming favorite for Player of the Year in Johni Broome. Broome will play through a bum shoulder and time will tell how it will affect him. If at all. Purdue will have their hands full but these are the types of games when head coach Matt Painter shows how good of a coach he is. Don’t sleep on the Boilers in this one; they are the underdogs but have a team that can win, especially if Broome is injured. Enjoy the hoops.