NCAA Basketball: Picks for Day 89 of the 2023-24 season

Saturday was the best day of College hoops that we have had in quite a long time. There were three games between top 10 schools. Kansas beat Houston in the Phog. That now makes Kansas 21-4 at home against top 10 opponents under Bill Self. Tennessee scored 100 in a track meet in a win over Kentucky. Finally, the North Carolina Tar Heels beat Duke at the Dean Dome.

That is just scratching the surface of the excellent games we have today. Kansas State hurt their NCAA tournament resume by losing to Oklahoma State. Northwestern hurt their seeding by losing in Overtime to Minnesota, TCU lost to Texas, Colorado lost to Utah, and Ole Miss lost to Auburn. So what about the teams who won? Indiana State keeps its at-large hopes alive with a win over Drake. Michigan State beat Maryland, Cincinnati beat Texas Tech, and Baylor beat Iowa State in a battle of two top 20 teams. Washington State beat Washington. 

UConn stays number 1 after a hard-fought battle against St. John’s in Madison Square Garden. Yale and Cornell both won to stay undefeated in the Ivy League. VCU beat Richmond. The Spiders are no longer undefeated in the Atlantic 10. Memphis got back to winning after a close win against Wichita State. Vermont stays undefeated in the America East. Southeastern Louisiana beat McNeese. McNeese was previously undefeated in the Southland and now has to win the league tournament to get into the tournament. Saint Mary’s stays undefeated in the WCC with a win in Spokane over Gonzaga. UCLA beat Oregon, which is a big blow to the tournament hopes for the Ducks. That pretty much does it for a busy Saturday of college hoops. It was a fantastic day of hoops. 

Yesterday I went 107-50 that brings my 88 day total to 2,580-1,041 overall. Saturday is not the only day that had huge games on the schedule. Today features a game between 2 top ten teams and two other ranked teams are in action. The top 4 teams in the Big Ten are in action on the schedule today and all of them should be good games. Other than the Big Ten there is the MAAC, Atlantic 10, Southern Conference, Horizon League, American, Summit League, Big East and Pac 12. Picks for day 89 February 4, 2024, are below.

Wisconsin over Purdue

Loyola Chicago over Davidson

Iona over Rider

Mount St. Mary’s over Siena

Saint Peter’s over Marist

Fairfield over Manhattan

Quinnipiac over Canisius

Furman over UNC Greensboro

Fort Wayne over Youngstown State

Northern Kentucky over Wright State

Milwaukee over IUPUI

Tulane over Temple

South Dakota State over South Dakota

SMU over UAB

Villanova over Providence

Illinois over Nebraska

Arizona over Stanford

There are not nearly as many games on the schedule today but there is a ton of quality. The day opens with a huge game with Wisconsin and Purdue in the battle for first place in the Big Ten. That game is in Wisconsin. Loyola Chicago needs a win to stay one game back of the leaders of the Atlantic 10.

The day closes with a huge bubble game against Providence and Villanova. The Wildcats are on a huge losing streak and Providence is starting to learn how to play without star Bryce Hopkins. Nebraska, fresh off a home win against Wisconsin, travels to Illinois. The Huskers say they have learned something from the Maryland debacle but tomorrow will be a prove-it day. Illinois is a 10-point favorite in that game. Arizona looks for revenge against Stanford in Tucson. The Wildcats can still get a one seed and need to stack as many wins as possible.