NCAA Basketball: Picks for Day 52 of the 2023-24 season
By Bryan Mauro
NCAA Basketball Conference play is in full swing. The Pac 12 got underway with wins for UCLA over Oregon State and Oregon over USC. The Big West had some of the best games of the night and saw Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, Northridge, and UC San Diego all winners. The Big Sky also got underway yesterday with Montana State, Eastern Washington, Idaho, and Weber State all winning.
In the Ohio Valley Little Rock and UT Martin won games and Cleveland State won in the Horizon League. Just remember that if you had a bad start to the non-conference season the conference slate is where you can make things right again. The Basketball is just better in conference.
Yesterday I went 14-5 in my picks. That gives me a 51 day total of 1,440-499 overall. There is wall to wall basketball today with the Horizon League conference season getting back into full swing. The number 1 team in the country is in action today and there are some games that are going to have the power schools on upset watch. Summit League play begins and conference play resumes in the Pac 12 and the Ohio Valley. Picks for day 52 December 29, 2023, are below.
IUPUI over Detroit Mercy
Wright State over Green Bay
Penn State over Rider
Elon over Valparaiso
Miami over North Florida
Indiana over Kennesaw State
Stony Brook over Brown
Purdue over Eastern Kentucky
Kentucky over Illinois State
Clemson over Radford
Stetson over Charlotte
Iowa over Northern Illinois
Fort Wayne over Northern Kentucky
Cincinnati over Evansville
Niagara over Buffalo
East Carolina over ETSU
Michigan over McNeese
South Florida over Alabama State
Minnesota over Maine
Saint Joseph’s over Loyola MD
UCF over Bethune
UMBC over American
Nebraska over South Carolina State
Stephen F. Austin over New Orleans
North Carolina over Charleston Southern
Texas over UNC Greensboro
Saint Mary’s over Kent State
UAB over UNC Asheville
MIlwaukee over Robert Morris
LSU over Northwestern State
Northwestern over Jackson State
Omaha over Denver
North Dakota over St Thomas
Oral Roberts over Kansas City
North Dakota State over South Dakota
Utah over Washington State
SIU Edwardsville over Eastern Illinois
Southeast Missouri State over Southern Indiana
Illinois over Fairleigh Dickinson
Gonzaga over San Diego State
Colorado over Washington
Boise State over Utah Valley
San Diego over Fresno State
LMU over Tarleton State
Arizona over California
Stanford over Arizona State
There is a lot to like today with the schedule. There are a lot of games with upset potential. McNeese and Michigan is one to watch and Radford and Clemson as well. Radford is very capable and already beat West Virginia this year. McNeese has a ton of talent and is well-coached. Michigan has not played well this year and that upset has about a 50% chance of happening. The game of the day is Gonzaga and San Diego State. The Bulldogs have been struggling to score with their normal fervor and San Diego State is still a talented team who gets after it on the defensive end. I love games with contrasting styles.
Biggest early team surprises of the season. Biggest early team surprises of the season. dark. Next
My favorite mid major game of the day is UAB and UNC Asheville. UAB is well-coached and plays extremely fast all the time. Asheville started slow but has picked up their level of play over the last two weeks. That game may have a ton of points scored in it. North Dakota and St Thomas have sneaky potential to be a preview of two of the top teams in the Summit. Each team is capable and has talent that can win them the league.