NCAA Basketball: Picks for Day 119 of the 2023-24 season

We are back with more conference tournament games and some huge games between top teams in power leagues.
Mar 2, 2024; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini players forward Quincy Guerrier (13),
Mar 2, 2024; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini players forward Quincy Guerrier (13), | Kayla Wolf-USA TODAY Sports

It was the start of championship week last night and the Atlantic Sun gave us two fantastic games to start everything off. Jacksonville beat Kennesaw State to move on in the league tournament and Queens also moves on after a win against big-time sleeper Florida Gulf Coast. Queens is a team to keep an eye on moving forward. Duke beat NC State and Baylor came back from a second-half deficit to defeat Texas in Waco. Montana State beat Weber State on the last day of the Big Sky. In the same conference both Northern Colorado and Montana won which pushed Weber State to the 4 seed and Northern Colorado earned the 2 and Montana the 3. That league tournament gets started on Saturday.

Yesterday I went 13-9 in my picks which brings my 118-day total to 3,509-1,455 overall. League tournaments are starting in the Patriot League, Sun Belt, Horizon League, and the Atlantic Sun continue today. There are a lot of other impact games today as well in the power leagues between bubble teams and teams already in the field just playing for seeding. A lot is going on today in the college basketball world as the season starts to wind down. Picks for day 119 March 5, 2024, are below.

Army over Holy Cross

Louisiana Monroe over Coastal Carolina

UMass Lowell over Maine

Purdue over Illinois

North Carolina over Notre Dame

Florida over Alabama

South Florida over Tulane

Navy over Loyola MD

Cleveland State over IUPUI

Fort Wayne over Robert Morris

Eastern Kentucky over Jacksonville

Queens over Stetson

Virginia Tech over Louisville

Clemson over Syracuse

Providence over Georgetown

Georgia over Ole Miss

VCU over Duquesne

Ohio over Buffalo

Kent State over Ball State

Akron over Eastern Michigan

Toledo over Miami Ohio

Western Michigan over Bowling Green

Harvard over Dartmouth

Vermont over New Hampshire

Binghamton over UMBC

Bryant over Albany

Liberty over MTSU

Milwaukee over Detroit Mercy

Austin Peay over North Florida

Lipscomb over North Alabama

Texas Tech over Oklahoma State

Oklahoma over Cincinnati

Central Michigan over Northern Illinois

Texas State over Old Dominion

Wyoming over Air Force

Auburn over Missouri

Kansas over Kansas State

Dayton over Saint Louis

Wake Forest over Georgia Tech

Pitt over Florida State

St John’s over DePaul

UNLV over San Diego State

Boise State over Nevada

Let’s start with the conference tournaments again, as the Horizon League, Patriot League, and Sun Belt get started. It’s a full day of Atlantic Sun games with Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville, Queens and Stetson, Lipscomb and North Alabama, and Austin Peay and North Florida. Queens is going to be a popular upset pick today.

Illinois and Purdue play in Champaign today with the top seed in the Big Ten on the line. If Purdue wins, they clinch the top seed in the Big Ten tournament next week. Florida hosts Alabama in a game that is going to have NCAA tournament-seeding implications. Alabama also needs to win that game to continue their quest for back-to-back regular season SEC titles. If Kansas State beats Kansas in Lawrence, they are going to have a great shot to hear their name called on Selection Sunday. Providence can not lose to Georgetown if they want to make the NCAA tournament. St. John's also has a must win game at DePaul.