The Saturday hoops delivered and there were some very eye popping results. I want to start with Auburn dismantling Purdue. The Tigers are the best team in the country, and they are starting to become an unstoppable force. Duke blew out Georgia Tech, Florida stays undefeated, and blew out North Florida. Princeton beat Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights are not great and in order for them to reach their ceiling they are going to have to get something from someone besides Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey.
The Big East is going to be competitive this year, just like every major conference. Marquette escapes Xavier, and UConn escapes Butler. Creighton bounced back with a win over Villanova in Omaha. The Big Ten had Michigan State beat Florida Atlantic and Maryland beat Syracuse. Penn State beat Drexel at a neutral site game. Minnesota, who is not very good, struggled to beat Fairleigh Dickinson. Iowa beat Utah for a great non-conference win.
Let’s move to the ACC. Clemson beat Wake Forest. SMU beat Boston College, Louisville beat Florida State, and Miami lost to another bad mid-major. This time is was Mount St. Mary’s, it is going to be a long year in Coral Gables. There were a lot of unexpected results on Saturday, and I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around.
Here are some of those unexpected games. Ohio State, who looked dead a week ago against Auburn, just boat-raced Kentucky. Coppin State finally gets on the board with a win over Navy. Mississippi State beat Memphis in Memphis, and North Carolina finally got their signature win over UCLA. That one could jumpstart that program. Wichita State blowing out Kansas State is not something I expected to get on the Bingo card this year. Jerome Tang might be in trouble if they don’t start winning games.
There are many games on the Sunday before Christmas and the premier event is the start of the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii. There is another game between two mid-major powers and a huge rivalry game between two bordering states. Big East conference play continues and there is a chance for a lot of games to have some lopsided scores. Picks for day 48, December 22, 2024, are below.
Winner | Loser |
|---|---|
Cornell | Illinois State |
Iowa State | Morgan State |
Alabama | Kent State |
Oklahoma | Central Arkansas |
Michigan | Fort Wayne |
Stonehill | New Hampshire |
Bryant | Towson |
Army | Binghamton |
Miami Ohio | Sacred Heart |
Missouri | Illinois |
Colgate | Iona |
Missouri State | Santa Barbara |
George Mason | Penn |
Wisconsin | Detroit Mercy |
South Carolina | Radford |
West Virginia | Mercyhurst |
TCU | Montana State |
Virginia | American |
VCU | William & Mary |
Kansas | Brown |
Rice | Prairie View |
UAB | Alcorn State |
McNeese | Louisiana |
Oklahoma State | Oral Roberts |
Oregon State | Charleston |
North Texas | Houston Christian |
LSU | New Orleans |
Georgia | Charleston Southern |
Cincinnati | Grambling |
USC | Southern |
Grand Canyon | Saint Louis |
NC State | Rider |
Fullerton | Wyoming |
Loyola Chicago | Oakland |
Notre Dame | Le Moyne |
Georgetown | Seton Hall |
North Alabama | LMU |
Saint Mary's | Utah State |
Nebraska | Murray State |
Hawaii | Charlotte |
The best game of the day is between Illinois and Missouri. It is a border rivalry and it usually has some crazy things happen in the game. Each team is good this year, and the wins will mean something. That one is going to be great. How good is Nebraska? No one truly knows, but they head to the Diamond Head classic as the overwhelming favorite to win the tournament. If they don’t, it will teach us all a lot about the Huskers.
Utah State and Saint Mary’s is a game between two huge basketball powers who both win a lot. That game should be high-scoring, and a lot of talent will be on the floor in that one. Enjoy the hoops.