Welcome College Football fans to the greatest show on the hardwood. I mentioned yesterday that it was a reset day in the world of college basketball, and I also forgot that there were no premier games on yesterday because there was the college football National Championship game on last night. Sticking to the sport that I cover, there were some interesting results in the MEAC and SWAC games last night. North Carolina Central beat Norfolk State in a matchup of the MEAC’s best two teams. Texas Southern beat Grambling and Southern beat Prairie View. Texas Southern and Southern are the two teams I believe will be at the top of the SWAC at the end of the year. McNeese won again and continues to look like a team that may get an at-large.
Yesterday I went 10-3 in my picks. That brings my 62 day total to 1,766-637 overall. There is a great schedule of games today with most of the power conferences in action today. The number 1 team in the country travels to a hostile environment to play a game they can lose and may lose. Big East conference play continues. Big Ten, SEC, ACC, and the Big 12 all have huge conference games today. The Atlantic 10, MAC, Southland, and Mountain West continue their seasons as well. The Ivy League continues today as well. Picks for day 63 January 9,2024, are below.
Cornell over Columbia
Seton Hall over Georgetown
Houston over Iowa State
Kentucky over Missouri
Cincinnati over Texas
Florida State over Wake Forest
Kansas State over West Virginia
Indiana over Rutgers
Alabama over South Carolina
Davidson over Rhode Island
George Mason over VCU
Eastern Michigan over Central Michigan
Akron over Ball State
Northern Illinois over Western Michigan
Kent State over Toledo
Buffalo over Miami Ohio
Bowling Green over Ohio
Yale over Brown
Nicholls over Southeastern Louisiana
Texas Tech over Oklahoma State
Loyola Chicago over Richmond
Pittsburgh over Duke
Baylor over BYU
Auburn over Texas A&M
Boise State over Colorado State
Utah State over Wyoming
Creighton over DePaul
Georgia Tech over Notre Dame
LSU over Vanderbilt
Nebraska over Purdue
Nevada over Air Force
UNLV over New Mexico
San Diego State over San Jose State
Today feels like a day that could be upset-heavy. Purdue, Colorado State, Duke, and Wake Forest are all on my upset watch today. Purdue heads to Lincoln where it will be a sell out and the Huskers are not your ordinary Huskers. They are a team that plays much better at home, hits a ton of threes, and has the depth and talent to pull off the upset. Duke and Colorado State are also going into raucous environments against teams who are more than capable of beating them. Wake Forest and Florida State is the one that would be surprising. The Seminoles are playing a lot better now than they were at the start of the year and winning on the road in college basketball is extremely hard.
George Mason and VCU is the underrated mid major game of the day. George Mason is off to a great start and do look like a legitimate contender in the Atlantic 10 and VCU is going through a coaching change, but they are still VCU and anytime you can beat them it’s a good win.