What a weekend for college hoops. The bubble is starting to get smaller as some teams are playing their way out of the tournament or are getting key wins to keep themselves in the field. There is also a team who is separating themselves from the pack and that is UConn. The Huskies are dominating their opponents right now and Xavier was the latest victim as the Musketeers got beat by 43 points. Purdue finally was able to get a win at Rutgers. It had been a while since they won in Piscataway. UAB beat Memphis, which was bad for the Tigers and their metrics. Just remember the tournament isn’t seeded or final until March so teams still have a ton of games left to make an impression.
Yesterday I went 12-4 in my picks. That brings my 82-day total to 2,361-932 overall. It is another Big Monday on ESPN today with two huge games. The rest of games are all low to mid-major games. Conferences in action today are the ACC, Patriot League, MEAC, SWAC, Southland, and the Big 12. There is not much quantity today either, but the schedule does pick up as the week goes on. Picks for day 83 January 29, 2024, are below.
Duke over Virginia Tech
Holy Cross over Boston University
Delaware State over North Carolina Central
Norfolk State over Morgan State
Howard over Coppin State
Maryland Eastern Shore over South Carolina State
Jackson State over Florida A&M
Lamar over New Orleans
Texas A&M Commerce over Texas A&M Corpus-Christi
McNeese over Northwestern State
Southeastern Louisiana over Houston Christian
Grambling over Pine Bluff
Southern over Mississippi Valley State
Texas Southern over Alabama State
Houston over Texas
Prairie View over Alabama A&M
Bethune over Alcorn State
There is not much quantity today but if you like watching HBCU basketball, which I do, then there is a lot of quality for you. McNeese plays today and they are coached by Will Wade. Those games are always fun to watch because even after all the scandals with Will Wade he is a great basketball coach.
Houston and Texas is a great matchup and the game of the day. The Cougars are very good on both sides of the ball and look like a legitimate National Title contender again. Texas needs to keep winning games to keep themselves in the NCAA tournament field. That game will be a battle.