It was an overly quiet Sunday of games as the sport prepares for the first week of Championship Week. Even with that, there were still some key results. Nebraska beat Rutgers in Lincoln, and that win likely pushes Nebraska into the NCAA tournament. UConn blew out Seton Hall in Storrs. The Huskies look poised to repeat this year, and after everything the team last season lost that is a testament to how good of a coach Danny Hurley is.
Indiana has been showing some signs of life over the last couple of weeks. They overcame a 15-point deficit on the road against Maryland and got a nice comeback win. Indiana State won the Missouri Valley regular season, Ohio State continued their late-season surge with a home win over Michigan. Colorado stays on the right side of the bubble with a win over Stanford. Memphis played the craziest game of the year. The Tigers gave up 60 points in the first half to UAB, only to turn around and score 60 points of their own in the second half. UAB scored 26 points in the second half and Memphis won 106-87.
Yesterday I went 14-5 in my picks which brings my 117-day total to 3,496-1,446 overall. It is officially the last week of the regular season and the first week of Championship week. The first autobid into the NCAA tournament will happen this week and the best event in sports is almost here. Its another ESPN Big Monday slot with games in the ACC and the Big 12. Those games are sandwiched around games in the Atlantic Sun, MEAC, Southland, Big Sky, and the SWAC. Picks for day 118 March 4, 2024, are below.
Duke over NC State
Kennesaw State over Jacksonville
Florida Gulf Coast over Queens
North Carolina Central over Morgan State
Howard over Delaware State
Norfolk State over MD Eastern Shore
South Carolina State over Coppin State
Incarnate Word over Southeastern Louisiana
Northwestern State over Nicholls
Texas A&M Commerce over Lamar
Texas A&M Corpus Christi over New Orleans
McNeese over Houston Christian
Northern Colorado over Northern Arizona
Texas Southern over Alcorn State
Prairie View over Jackson State
Grambling over Bethune
Baylor over Texas
Southern over Florida A&M
Weber State over Montana State
Montana over Idaho State
Eastern Washington over Sacramento State
Portland State over Idaho
There is not much today especially if you like Power Conference basketball. Duke and NC State is a game that Duke should win. The Wolfpack is an ACC tournament-or-bust team at this point. Baylor has a chance to pick up another quad 1 win tonight when they play Texas. Each team is securely in the field so they are currently playing for seeding.
The Atlantic Sun games between Kennesaw State and Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast and Queens are the first round of the conference tournament. The winners get Eastern Kentucky or Stetson tomorrow. Those will be intense games because everything is riding on them.