On a night that saw 12 ranked teams play only three of them lost. Only one team, Michigan State, lost to an unranked team. UCLA beat the Spartans on an Eric Dailey layup with 7 seconds left. Ole Miss blew out Kentucky and St. John’s beat Marquette at the Garden. The Johnnies are now in sole possession of first place in the Big East and control their own destiny. It has been quite the turnaround for St. John’s under head coach Rick Pitino.
The rest of the ranked games went as you would expect. Auburn blew out Oklahoma. The Tigers have the number 1 strength of schedule in the country and are 21-1. People have been saying all year that they may be one of the best teams of all time. It is time to start listening to that. Houston beat Oklahoma State to keep pace in the Big 12. Arizona beat BYU to keep a share of first place with Houston. Texas Tech beat Baylor, Florida beat Vanderbilt, and Purdue beat Iowa. Iowa is going to be short handed the rest of the year and their bad defense got much worse after losing star Owen Freeman for the season.
The Wednesday schedule is going to be a lot like the Tuesday schedule. There are six ranked teams playing today, and only one is likely to lose, but that will be a top 5 team. The Big Ten and SEC are going to capture most of the viewers tonight as they have ranked teams and bubble teams in action. There are bubble games in the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, and ACC. Those bubble teams all need a win to stay in the conversation. Picks for February 5, 2025, are below.
Winner | Loser |
|---|---|
Army | Holy Cross |
ETSU | VMI |
Michigan | Oregon |
Seton Hall | Butler |
App State | Southern Mississippi |
Milwaukee | IU Indy |
Duke | Syracuse |
Tennessee | Missouri |
Presbyterian | South Carolina Upstate |
High Point | Radford |
Winthrop | Charleston Southern |
UCF | Cincinnati |
East Carolina | Rice |
Louisville | Boston College |
George Washington | George Mason |
Rhode Island | Fordham |
Richmond | Duquesne |
Indiana State | Valpo |
Northern Iowa | Missouri State |
Boston University | Navy |
Lafayette | Loyola MD |
American | Bucknell |
South Alabama | Coastal Carolina |
Georgia State | UL Monroe |
Old Dominion | Texas State |
James Madison | Troy |
Georgia Southern | Louisiana |
Northern Kentucky | Cleveland State |
Robert Morris | Detroit Mercy |
Fort Wayne | Wright State |
Lipscomb | West Georgia |
Wofford | Chattanooga |
Furman | Western Carolina |
UNC Greensboro | The Citadel |
Queens | Central Arkansas |
Samford | Mercer |
Memphis | Tulsa |
TCU | West Virginia |
UTSA | Tulane |
Evansville | Southern Illinois |
North Alabama | Austin Peay |
Illinois Chicago | Illinois State |
Illinois | Rutgers |
Creighton | Providence |
Utah | Colorado |
SMU | Virginia Tech |
Bradley | Belmont |
Villanova | DePaul |
Arkansas State | Marshall |
Texas | Arkansas |
Georgia | LSU |
Nebraska | Washington |
New Mexico | Colorado State |
California | NC State |
Stanford | Wake Forest |
One game stands out above the rest today, and guess what? It is in the SEC. Tennessee opens play on Wednesday night as the number 4 team in the country. They take on the number 15 Missouri in a huge game that is going to help determine seeding in both the conference and the NCAA tournament. The Volunteers are coming off a huge win against Florida, and Missouri is coming off a blowout win against Mississippi State. The Volunteers play smothering defense and don’t allow much. The Tigers average over 83 points per game. Something is going to give. SEC Basketball delivers every night. Enjoy the hoops!