The last major Saturday of the year was a big one. There were two teams Arizona and Kentucky who scored over 100 points in their win. Tennessee beat Alabama, Auburn beat Mississippi State, Texas A&M beat Georgia, Ole Miss beat Missouri in the SEC. Villanova beat Providence to stay alive and now Providence has to beat UConn to earn a bid. Iowa beat Northwestern which continues to late surge to the tournament field for the Hawkeyes.
Illinois beat Wisconsin. How will the committee treat Wisconsin if they head into the NCAA tournament losers of 10-12 games to close out the year? Purdue beat Michigan State at home. The Spartans now must win their last two games to make the tournament. Clemson, Wake Forest, and Virginia took devastating losses which will reflect badly on the tournament committee. Kansas can’t win on the road and lost to Baylor. Texas Tech and Houston survive on the road. BYU came back from 18 down to beat TCU.
I went 94-41 in my picks that brings my 116 day total to 3,482-1,441 overall. There is a ton of games with impact on Sunday. There is a game for some teams looking to lock themselves into the tournament and others are trying to finalize their seeding for their conference tournament. It is going to be a huge day of hoops and all hoops fans are going to be able to find something they will like. Picks for day 117 March 3, 2024, are below.
UConn over Seton Hall
Rider over Canisius
Illinois State over Valpo
Southern Illinois over Northern Iowa
Missouri State over UIC
Maryland over Indiana
Saint Peter’s over Manhattan
Quinnipiac over Siena
Niagara over Mount St. Mary’s
Iona over Marist
North Texas over East Carolina
Oral Roberts over Kansas City
Drake over Bradley
Indiana State over Murray State
Ohio State over Michigan
Belmont over Evansville
Memphis over UAB
Nebraska over Rutgers
Colorado over Stanford
There are not a ton of games today but there is a lot of quality. Its the last game in the Missouri Valley before they gear up for their conference tournament next week. Indiana State will clinch the top seed if they win the game.
There are three Big Ten games and two of them are huge. Nebraska wins and they are in the tournament that simple. If the Huskers beat Rutgers on Senior Day in Lincoln they will go to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 10 years. Ohio State needs to beat Michigan to continue their surge toward the bracket and postseason. Memphis is also on a late-season surge through the American. Colorado is on the bubble and can not lose to Stanford at home.