NCAA Basketball: Picks for day 116 of the 2023-24 season
By Bryan Mauro
A lot has happened since we last talked and there have been a lot of huge impact games that have happened. I will give a quick recap of Thursday night. Ohio State continued their late-season surge with a win over Nebraska. The Huskers now have to win their last two games to get into the field. Gonzaga blew out San Francisco and St. Mary’s clinched the top seed in the WCC with a win over Pepperdine. Merrimack, South Dakota State, Eastern Washington, and Charleston all clinched the top seed in their conference tournament.
Friday was a day I didn’t do picks because I had a lot going on at my day job and I was not able to get those in for the day. Appalachian State clinched the top seed in the Sun Belt, Quinnipiac is back in first place in the MAAC, Eastern Kentucky clinched the first seed in the Atlantic Sun tournament. In the biggest result of the day Loyola Chicago beat Dayton which pushed Dayton to the third seed in the conference tournament. It was not a great day of games which makes sense since Saturday is always a huge day of games.
On Thursday I went 33-17 in my picks that brings my 114 day total to 3,388-1,400 total. It is another huge Saturday and it is one of the last big ones of the year. Conference tournaments start on Monday and things are starting to wind down in the power conferences. Picks were not made on day 115. Picks for day 116 March 2nd, 2024, are below.
South Carolina over Florida
Georgia Tech over Florida State
Florida Atlantic over Tulane
Providence over Villanova
Butler over DePaul
Colgate over Lehigh
Boston University over Holy Cross
Saint Joseph’s over Fordham
Baylor over Kansas
Wisconsin over Illinois
Temple over Tulsa
Monmouth over Elon
Central Connecticut over Stonehill
Eastern Michigan over Miami Ohio
Wofford over VMI
Kentucky over Arkansas
Arizona over Oregon
Texas over Oklahoma State
UNC Asheville over Radford
Winthrop over Gardner-Webb
Presbyterian over Charleston Southern
UNC Wilmington over Towson
Charleston over Hofstra
William & Mary over Hampton
American over Navy
La Salle over George Washington
George Mason over Duquesne
Sacred Heart over Merrimack
Ball State over Western Michigan
Toledo over Buffalo
Furman over Mercer
Chattanooga over Western Carolina
Binghamton over New Hampshire
North Dakota over South Dakota
North Dakota State over South Dakota State
Creighton over Marquette
Davidson over UMass
SMU over UTSA
Samford over The Citadel
Vermont over UMass Lowell
Minnesota over Penn State
LSU over Vanderbilt
Kent State over Central Michigan
Morehead State over Lindenwood
Southern over Bethune
Iowa State over UCF
North Carolina over NC State
Auburn over Mississippi State
Charlotte over South Florida
Washington over USC
Eastern Shore over Howard
Colorado State over Wyoming
Drexel over Northeastern
Campbell over North Carolina A&T
Stony Brook over Delaware
Rhode Island over Saint Louis
Delaware State over Norfolk State
NC Central over Coppin State
Le Moyne over St Francis PA
UNC Greensboro over ETSU
Little Rock over Tennessee Tech
Bryant over NJIT
Albany over Maine
Lamar over Northwestern State
Utah Valley over UT Arlington
Weber State over Northern Arizona
Morgan State over South Carolina State
High Point over Longwood
Wagner over Fairleigh Dickinson
UT Martin over Tennessee State
Western Illinois over SIU Edwardsville
Texas A&M Corpus Christi over Southeastern Louisiana
Alabama State over Alabama A&M
Houston Christian over Texas A&M Commerce
Grambling over Florida A&M
Loyola MD over Army
McNeese over Nicholls
Jacksonville State over New Mexico State
Portland State over Sacramento State
Montana over Idaho
Eastern Washington over Montana State
Virginia Tech over Wake Forest
Northwestern over Iowa
Duke over Virginia
Cleveland State over IUPUI
Pittsburgh over Boston College
Texas Tech over West Virginia
Georgia over Texas A&M
Richmond over VCU
Akron over Northern Illinois
Milwaukee over Green Bay
Oakland over Detroit Mercy
Jackson State over Texas Southern
Incarnate Word over New Orleans
Brown over Dartmouth
Western Kentucky over Florida International
Pine Bluff over Mississippi Valley State
Prairie View over Alcorn State
Washington State over UCLA
Kansas State over Cincinnati
Wichita State over Rice
Bucknell over Lafayette
Santa Clara over San Francisco
Penn over Columbia
Fort Wayne over Robert Morris
Wright State over Northern Kentucky
Princeton over Cornell
Yale over Harvard
Liberty over UTEP
Xavier over Georgetown
Clemson over Notre Dame
Houston over Oklahoma
Purdue over Michigan State
Alabama over Tennessee
Syracuse over Louisville
Boise State over New Mexico
Portland over LMU
St Thomas over Denver
Cal Baptist over UT Rio Grande Valley
Sam Houston over MTSU
UC San Diego over Northridge
Riverside over Hawaii
Northern Colorado over Idaho State
Ole Miss over Missouri
Southern Indiana over Southeast Missouri State
Tarleton State over Southern Utah
Utah over California
BYU over TCU
Utah Tech over Abilene Christian
Fullerton over Santa Barbara
Saint Mary’s over Gonzaga
UNLV over San Jose State
San Diego over Pacific
Grand Canyon over Stephen F. Austin
Bakersfield over Cal Poly
UC Irvine over Long Beach State
This is not the best Saturday slate of the year but it is pretty good and has a lot to like. It starts off with a bang with Baylor and Kansas playing in Waco. The Bears can get that win over Kansas and likely will. Alabama and Tennessee have a showdown in Tuscaloosa, and Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga face off in the WCC. Can the Gaels remain undefeated in the WCC? Then there are bubble teams playing tomorrow like Ole Miss against the SEC winless Missouri Tigers. Kansas State and Cincinnati, Utah can’t lose to California, Boise State and New Mexico, and Michigan State desperately needs a win against Purdue. Wisconsin gets Illinois at home and needs to win that game to feel good about themselves heading into the stretch run. Virginia plays Duke needing a win, Iowa has to beat Northwestern, Wake Forest can not lose to Virginia Tech, and Villanova and Providence both need a win. It will be a great day of bubble games.
Next. Biggest storylines for each top-25 team. Biggest storylines for each top-25 team. dark
The game of the day is South Carolina and Florida in a top 25 matchup and then there is Charlotte and South Florida. The Bulls are winning the American and Charlotte is good enough to beat them on their home floor. That will be a game I will have eyes on.