NCAA Basketball: Picks for Day 43 of the 2023-24 season

It was quite the weekend in NCAA Basketball. Saturday was the best slate we will see until the NCAA tournament. Purdue beat Arizona, Kentucky beat North Carolina, Michigan State destroyed Baylor, Kansas beat Indiana, Creighton beat Alabama, and Houston beat Texas A&M. Those are just the games I can remember but so much more happened on the last major Saturday of the non-conference season. When Saturday returns with its full slate it will be conference time. 

Sunday saw two power schools that many of us have questions about securing giant road wins. Nebraska blasted Kansas State in Manhattan and Syracuse blasted Oregon in Eugene. Those were both statement wins for the winning programs this year. Louisville beat Pepperdine. At this point anytime Louisville wins it is newsworthy. Finally Auburn beat USC and Seton Hall beat Missouri. USC was preseason ranked and now sits at 5-5 on the season. 

I went 69-18 in my picks on Saturday and then went 18-8 in my picks yesterday. That gives me a 42 day total of 1,237-446 overall. Finals week is over and it is the final week before the Christmas break. There is a pretty good schedule today with some nice games to get us set for the holiday. Picks for day 43 December 18,2023, are below.

Jacksonville over Louisiana Monroe

UNC Asheville over South Carolina State

Charleston over Coastal Carolina

Campbell over Morgan State

Michigan State over Oakland

Duquesne over Bradley

Marist over Maryland Eastern Shore

Wake Forest over Delaware State

Quinnipiac over Holy Cross

UCF over Maine

Little Rock over Murray State

Chicago State over UT Rio Grande Valley

Tarleton State over Jacksonville State

Evansville over UT Martin

Southern Mississippi over Lamar

UC San Diego over Sacramento State

Fresno State over Portland State

Eastern Washington over Cal Poly

LMU over Detroit Mercy

Can Chicago State make it three wins in a row? They have a winnable game and it is finally on their home floor. The schedule has a lot of tune up games but remember students are gone for the holiday break and crazy things happen this week. There is the potential for a ton of upsets this week especially if the power schools mess around.

Duquesne and Bradley is the game of the day. Michigan State and Oakland is a very interesting game because the Golden Grizzlies have a roster that has given power schools a game this year and Michigan State is going to have to prove they are on their way to being fixed this year.