NCAA Basketball: Picks for Day 44 of the 2023-24 season

There were zero top-25 teams in action yesterday and very few Power schools, but that didn’t mean there were no good games. There were a lot of games yesterday that came down to the wire. Portland State and Duquesne won their games on buzzer-beaters. Southern Miss beat Lamar by a basket. Jacksonville State picked up a good road win at Tarleton State and Asheville barely squeaked by South Carolina State. Michigan State continued to roll against Oakland. Finally, Chicago State is one of the hottest teams in the country. They pick up their third win in a row and have now won 4 out of their last 5 games.

Yesterday I went 17-2 in my picks. That gives me a 43 day total of 1,254-448. There is a loaded schedule today with Big East conference play starting. There are also some games between two ranked opponents. The Jumpman Invitational begins and there is daytime hoops. Picks for day 44 December 12, 2023, are below.

Bowling Green over Hampton

Samford over Valpo

Florida Gulf Coast over Georgia Southern

Notre Dame over The Citadel

Binghamton over Niagara

Butler over Georgetown

Indiana over Morehead State

James Madison over Coppin State

Memphis over Virginia

Ole Miss over Troy

Florida International over Stetson

Alabama State over USC

High Point over UNC Greensboro

Chattanooga over Gardner-Webb

Indiana State over Tennessee State

Cornell over Siena

Furman over Presbyterian

South Carolina over Winthrop

Central Connecticut over Northeastern

Wright State over Miami Ohio

Western Carolina over Vanderbilt

Cincinnati over Merrimack

Queens over Mercer

Albany over Sacred Heart

Michigan over Florida

Stephen F. Austin over New Mexico State

Tulsa over Mississippi Valley State

Loyola Chicago over Charleston Southern

Southern Illinois over North Dakota State

Drake over Alcorn State

SMU over Houston Christian

Florida State over North Florida

Missouri State over Lindenwood

Providence over Marquette

Maryland over Nicholls

UC Davis over Montana

Montana State over Southern Utah

Bakersfield over South Dakota

Cal Baptist over Western Kentucky

Saint Mary’s over Middle Tennessee

UCLA over Northridge

There is the potential for a ton of upsets today. I picked a few with Providence beating Marquette. The one I do think is likely to happen is Alabama State beating USC. That game is an Alabama State home game and is part of the Pac-12 SWAC challenge. Last year the SWAC won their home games against Washington State, Arizona State, and Colorado. It is going to happen again today.  Western Carolina beating Vanderbilt may not be that big of an upset depending on who you ask.

Memphis and Virginia is the game of the night. Michigan and Florida is a close second. The best mid-major game is High Point and UNC Greensboro. Those are two teams who are going to factor in their conference races.