It was a nice Friday to prepare for a huge day of hoops on Saturday and Sunday. There was not a single Power Five game but there were still some results that meant something, especially in the Ivy. Cornell beat Yale to move into sole possession of first place in the league. Princeton beat Harvard to move into a tie for second place with Yale. The final few weeks of the Ivy are going to be intense. Fordham puts up 50 points in the second half to beat Duquesne. The Dukes were all out of sorts in the second half and didn’t look good during that 20 minutes of game play. Fairfield beat Quinnipiac to move to a half-game back of the MAAC title. That league race will be tremendous coming down the stretch as well.
Yesterday I went 10-6 in my picks that brings my 108 day total to 3,181-1,288 overall. Welcome to Saturday of College Basketball, we made it again and the schedule is going to deliver. The excellent games get started right out of the gate with ranked teams and continue to deliver all throughout the day. There are going to be teams falling off the bubble and teams getting huge wins to keep themselves alive. It is the home stretch and every game matters from here on out. Picks for day 109 February 24, 2024 are below.
Houston over Baylor
Syracuse over Notre Dame
Northeastern over Hampton
Towson over Charleston
Penn State over Indiana
Arkansas over Missouri
Florida over Vanderbilt
Stony Brook over William & Mary
Western Carolina over VMI
Chattanooga over The Citadel
New Hampshire over UMBC
UMass Lowell over Albany
Eastern Kentucky over Central Arkansas
Arizona over Washington
Iowa State over West Virginia
Duke over Wake Forest
Kansas State over BYU
NC State over Boston College
Lafayette over Lehigh
Rice over East Carolina
Winthrop over South Carolina Upstate
Radford over Longwood
UNC Asheville over Gardner-Webb
High Point over Charleston Southern
Monmouth over North Carolina A&T
Le Moyne over Fairleigh Dickinson
Central Connecticut over Sacred Heart
Stonehill over St Francis Pa
Ball State over Eastern Michigan
Furman over Wofford
Georgia State over Texas State
Maine over NJIT
South Dakota over Oral Roberts
North Dakota State over North Dakota
Stetson over Kennesaw State
Illinois over Iowa
UMass over St. Bonaventure
Western Michigan over Buffalo
TCU over Cincinnati
George Washington over Saint Louis
Samford over ETSU
South Dakota State over St Thomas
UT Arlington over Utah Tech
Ole Miss over South Carolina
Central Michigan over Miami Ohio
Troy over Louisiana Monroe
Arkansas State over South Alabama
Virginia over North Carolina
Kentucky over Alabama
UCF over Texas Tech
Howard over Morgan State
North Carolina Central over Maryland Eastern Shore
South Carolina State over Delaware State
Miami over Georgia Tech
Oklahoma State over Oklahoma
North Texas over UTSA
Murray State over Valpo
Alabama State over Florida A&M
New Mexico over Air Force
Norfolk State over Coppin State
Tennessee Tech over Eastern Illinois
Jackson State over Alcorn State
Nicholls over Texas A&M Commerce
North Alabama over Bellarmine
Bethune over Alabama A&M
Utah Valley over Stephen F. Austin
Grand Canyon over Abilene Christian
UC San Diego over UC Irvine
Northern Arizona over Idaho
Loyola Chicago over George Mason
Ohio over Northern Illinois
UNC Greensboro over Mercer
Western Illinois over Southern Indiana
Tennessee State over SIU Edwardsville
Little Rock over Lindenwood
Southeastern Louisiana over New Orleans
Houston Christian over Northwestern State
UT Martin over Southeast Missouri State
Stanford over Oregon State
James Madison over Georgia Southern
McNeese over Incarnate Word
Tarleton State over Cal Baptist
Austin Peay over Lipscomb
Pittsburgh over Virginia Tech
Kansas over Texas
Auburn over Georgia
Drake over Northern Iowa
Belmont over Missouri State
DePaul over Georgetown
Richmond over Davidson
Yale over Columbia
Princeton over Dartmouth
Appalachian State over Marshall
Cornell over Brown
Seattle over UT Rio Grande Valley
Florida International over Jacksonville State
Southern over Grambling
Pine Bluff over Prairie View
California over Oregon
Texas Southern over Mississippi Valley State
Hofstra over Elon
Lamar over Texas A&M Corpus Christ
Harvard over Penn
Southern Mississippi over Louisiana
Old Dominion over Coastal Carolina
Vermont over Bryant
Florida Gulf Coast over Queens
Boise State over Wyoming
Western Kentucky over Middle Tennessee
Clemson over Florida State
UConn over Villanova
Tennessee over Texas A&M
Washington State over Arizona State
UNLV over Colorado State
Charlotte over Tulsa
Indiana State over Illinois Chicago
Bradley over Illinois State
Kansas City over Omaha
Montana State over Sacramento State
Weber State over Idaho State
Northern Colorado over Eastern Washington
Seton Hall over Butler
LSU over Mississippi State
Colorado over Utah
Louisiana Tech over New Mexico State
Sam Houston over UTEP
Fullerton over Northridge
Montana over Portland State
Saint Mary’s over San Diego
San Diego State over Fresno State
UCLA over USC
Gonzaga over Santa Clara
San Francisco over Pepperdine
LMU over Pacific
Cal Poly over Riverside
UC Davis over Bakersfield
Hawaii over Long Beach State
The day starts off with a banger when we get two top 15 teams going at it. Houston travels to Baylor. Houston needs to win to stay near the top of the overall seed list and a win by Baylor could improve their seed line. Duke and Wake Forest is a battle between a top 4 seed in Duke and a team that desperately needs to win in Wake Forest. If the Deacs win they likely will earn a spot in the field if they lose it will be tough. Illinois and Iowa is a huge game for both teams. The Hawkeyes need it to continue their late-season push to the NCAA tournament and Illinois needs the game to wipe the sour taste out of their mouth from a blown lead against Penn State. Ole Miss desperately needs to beat South Carolina to stay in the field. North Carolina has not won at Virginia in a long time, and the Cavaliers could use another signature win. Kentucky gets Alabama at Rupp and is looking for a huge win over the best team in the SEC. Oklahoma better not lose to Oklahoma State.
There are still more gigantic games tomorrow. First place is on the line in the Big West with UC San Diego and UC Irvine do battle. UConn plays Villanova in Storrs. The Wildcats have to win but that is no easy task against a mad UConn team. Texas A&M needs to win to make up for two terrible losses but they are not likely going to win in Knoxville. Seton Hall and Butler is a game between two bubble teams who both desperately need a win. The same can be said about Utah and Colorado. Finally, Colorado State has a very tough game against UNLV in Vegas. The Rams need to find a way to not lose.