It was an eventful Monday in the college basketball world. Virginia Tech blew out Virginia in Blacksburg. The Cavaliers have failed to score 40 points in their last two games. Somehow, they are 1-1 in those games. Houston beat Iowa State at the Fertitta Center. It is impossibly hard to score points on the Cougars at points and if they continue to score, they are very hard to beat. Houston is now in outright first place in the Big 12. Texas beat Kansas State in Austin. It is going to be an uphill climb for the Wildcats to make the NCAA Tournament. Texas had to win to keep their place in the field.
Colgate beat Lafayette to win the Patriot League. The Raiders have now won the regular season 5 years in a row. Texas A&M Commerce beat Incarnate Word in Overtime. That game ended in a huge brawl and there are going to be a lot of likely suspensions once the Southland reviews the tape. Chicago State is the only independent in the country and they finished off their season yesterday. They will now head into the offseason and prepare for life in the NEC next season.
Yesterday I went 13-6 in my picks that brings my 104 day total to 3,073-1,247 overall. The schedule picks up in a big way today with some huge games for NCAA tournament teams and teams trying to find themselves on the right side of the bubble. Even for teams not in the NCAA tournament picture some of them are trying to win enough to have an outside shot at the NIT or for a good seed in their conference tournament where anything can happen. Picks for day 105 February 20, 2024, are below.
Villanova over Butler
Tennessee over Missouri
NC State over Syracuse
Florida State over Boston College
UCF over West Virginia
Michigan State over Iowa
Texas A&M over Arkansas
Davidson over Fordham
Duquesne over Saint Louis
UMass over VCU
Akron over Toledo
Ohio over Kent State
Western Michigan over Miami Ohio
Central Michigan over Bowling Green
Buffalo over Eastern Michigan
Morehead State over Southern Indiana
Northern Illinois over Ball State
Creighton over UConn
BYU over Baylor
Utah State over San Diego State
Texas Tech over TCU
Wake Forest over Pitt
Wisconsin over Maryland
Boise State over San Jose State
Saint Mary’s over San Francisco
Nevada over Wyoming
Well, let’s get started. Iowa is trying to make a late-season push to the NCAA tournament and a win over Michigan State on the road would be a great way to get that train moving in the right direction. If they lose, they are likely done. Pittsburgh and Wake Forest is a game between two ACC bubble teams who just need to win. Wake Forest needs good wins and Pitt just needs to keep winning and other bubble teams around them to keep losing. Villanova and Butler is a must-win game for both teams and it is going to be an excellent basketball game. Wisconsin has lost 5 out of 6 games and needs to start writing the ship or they may find themselves on the bubble. They have a tough game tonight against Maryland at the Kohl Center that they must win.
Akron and Toledo are for first place in the MAC. Saint Mary’s plays a capable San Francisco team, and the Gaels are without one of their key players for the night. The best game of the night is in Omaha Nebraska when Creighton takes on number 1 UConn at the CHI Health Center. This is a game that Creighton is capable of winning, and it feels like the number 1 team is going to lose tonight. Just a hunch I have.