NCAA Basketball: Picks for Day 40 of the 2023-24 Season
Today is the last day of "Finals week" before the weekend and the NCAA Basketball schedule picks up today with a huge game in Seattle between two powers.
By Bryan Mauro
Finals week has seen ranked teams lose and ranked teams be pushed for 40 minutes before finally escaping with a win. Today is the last day of "Finals week" before the weekend and the NCAA Basketball schedule picks up today with a huge game in Seattle between two powers.
There is always something to be said about games against capable teams over Finals week. They do not usually end well. Ask Northwestern. Yesterday there were no notable upsets but there were some power five teams who got a huge scare. Marquette battled for 40 minutes before finally beating St. Thomas. The Florida Gators narrowly escaped a much improved and highly competitive East Carolina squad. Other than those two games there were a lot of blowouts.
Yesterday I went 7-0 in my picks. That gives me a 39 day total of 1,144-417 overall. Finals week is over and there is one huge weekend left before the Christmas week games start and then the break for the holidays. Friday is going to be a nice primer for the best Saturday that college hoops has seen in quite some time. The schedule today is still not great but there is one fantastic game to kick off the weekend surrounded by a lot of mid major games. Picks for day 40 December 15,2023, are below.
Mount St Mary’s over St Francis PA
UT Rio Grande Valley over Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Sam Houston over Texas State
Colorado over Northern Colorado
Bradley over Cleveland State
New Mexico over New Mexico State
UConn over Gonzaga
Fresno State over Bakersfield
San Diego over Portland State
Looking at that schedule it is not hard to determine what the game of the night is. Gonzaga and UConn in Seattle is the game of the night and it should have a lot of eyes on it. The Bulldogs are not as good as they have been in years past but are still capable. UConn is the defending National Champions and has been blowing people out. That is going to be a fantastic game tonight.
Next. Current HCs on the hot seat. Current HCs on the hot seat. dark
The best mid-major game of the night is New Mexico and New Mexico State. That is a big-time rivalry and it is the second time they are playing in under two weeks. New Mexico won the first meeting and are heavy favorites tonight but Las Cruces will be hopping. Enjoy the games and see you tomorrow.