CSD Prime College Basketball Computer Rankings Week 9 – Virginia, Alabama Climb

We all knew Virginia was a talented team, but the Cavaliers had not shown it yet. The best win in non-conference play was a home overtime victory over Kent State, and their 4-0 start in ACC play came against the worst teams in the conference. On Saturday against Clemson, though, Tony Bennet showed why he is a future Naismith Hall of Fame coach.

Virginia opened the game on a 29-5 run and never trailed, going on to beat the nation’s best defense on the road by a score of 85-50, scoring more points per possession than even Gonzaga did against the Cavs back in December.

It took a weird start, with a loss to San Francisco and a throbbing at the hands of Gonzaga, to get there, but now, you couldn’t find an oddsmaker in Vegas that would tell you that Virginia was not the favorite to win the ACC, just as we all predicted at the season’s outset.

A reminder, as always, these rankings DO NOT reflect a team’s resume. They are solely used to measure a team’s strength in the sense Vegas would to set lines. Thus, team talent remains an important variable throughout the season. Additionally, recent games are weighted more heavily, and if you are lucky or don’t look good in a win, you may fall, while if you look good or are unlucky in a loss, you may rise. Let’s get into it.

Rank	Name	Conf	Record	change	ytd change
1	Gonzaga	WCC	14-0	1	0
2	Baylor	Big 12	12-0	-1	2
3	Iowa	Big Ten	12-2	0	4
4	Villanova	Big East	8-1	0	-2
5	Tennessee	SEC	10-1	3	23
6	Michigan	Big Ten	11-1	0	10
7	Illinois	Big Ten	9-5	-2	1
8	Houston	AAC	11-1	3	10
9	Texas	Big 12	11-2	-2	12
10	Virginia	ACC	9-2	15	-4
11	Wisconsin	Big Ten	11-3	-2	8
12	Colorado	Pac-12	11-3	4	35
13	Creighton	Big East	10-3	-3	-3
14	Texas Tech	Big 12	11-4	0	-2
15	Kansas	Big 12	10-3	-3	-12
16	Alabama	SEC	11-3	8	34
17	Ohio State	Big Ten	11-3	5	3
18	USC	Pac-12	11-2	-5	41
19	West Virginia	Big 12	9-4	-2	-5
20	LSU	SEC	10-2	3	18
21	Oregon	Pac-12	9-2	-2	-6
22	Florida State	ACC	7-2	8	-11
23	Connecticut	Big East	7-1	-2	18
24	Minnesota	Big Ten	11-4	7	19
25	UCLA	Pac-12	11-2	3	6
26	Purdue	Big Ten	10-5	3	-4
27	Oklahoma	Big 12	7-4	12	3
28	Saint Louis	A10	7-1	-1	38
29	Arizona	Pac-12	10-3	15	3
30	Missouri	SEC	8-2	4	49
31	Clemson	ACC	9-2	-16	25
32	Indiana	Big Ten	8-6	-12	-8
33	Oklahoma State	Big 12	9-3	3	21
34	Arkansas	SEC	10-4	-16	21
35	Boise State	Mountain West	12-1	10	50
36	Louisville	ACC	9-2	-10	-13
37	Drake	Missouri Valley	13-0	0	105
38	Virginia Tech	ACC	11-2	0	24
39	North Carolina	ACC	8-5	-7	-10
40	BYU	WCC	11-3	12	-7
41	Xavier	Big East	10-2	1	10
42	Florida	SEC	6-4	1	-25
43	Rutgers	Big Ten	7-5	-3	3
44	Maryland	Big Ten	8-6	3	-18
45	Utah State	Mountain West	11-3	9	12
46	San Diego State	Mountain West	9-4	-13	-21
47	Seton Hall	Big East	9-5	-1	-20
48	Penn State	Big Ten	3-5	-7	-9
49	Loyola-Chicago	Missouri Valley	10-3	13	24
50	Michigan State	Big Ten	8-4	-1	-41
51	Stanford	Pac-12	8-5	-16	-14
52	Marquette	Big East	8-6	3	-10
53	SMU	AAC	7-2	4	16
54	Duke	ACC	5-3	-4	-49
55	Richmond	A10	9-3	4	10
56	Syracuse	ACC	7-4	-8	-20
57	Wichita State	AAC	8-3	8	-13
58	Northwestern	Big Ten	6-6	-7	45
59	VCU	A10	10-3	2	29
60	St Bonaventure	A10	6-1	3	36
61	Providence	Big East	7-6	-3	-26
62	North Carolina State	ACC	6-4	-9	-10
63	Kentucky	SEC	4-8	-7	-50
64	Pittsburgh	ACC	7-2	9	36
65	Ole Miss	SEC	6-6	-5	7
66	Rhode Island	A10	7-7	3	9
67	South Carolina	SEC	3-3	-1	-3
68	Furman	Southern	10-3	-1	12
69	Mississippi State	SEC	9-5	-1	-8
70	Davidson	A10	8-5	6	8
71	Auburn	SEC	8-6	8	-23
72	Georgia Tech	ACC	6-3	-1	-4
73	Tulsa	AAC	8-4	-9	25
74	Toledo	MAC	11-4	-4	55
75	Colorado State	Mountain West	10-2	0	32
76	Colgate	Patriot	5-1	6	54
77	Memphis	AAC	6-5	0	-14
78	Utah	Pac-12	5-6	7	-2
79	Cincinnati	AAC	3-7	1	-39
80	UCF	AAC	3-5	-6	28
81	St Mary’s	WCC	9-5	-9	-36
82	San Francisco	WCC	9-7	-1	8
83	Wright State	Horizon	9-4	5	33
84	Notre Dame	ACC	4-8	9	-26
85	Winthrop	Big South	13-0	2	37
86	Marshall	Conference USA	7-4	-8	34
87	Dayton	A10	8-3	3	-34
88	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	11-4	10	-1
89	UAB	Conference USA	10-2	3	59
90	Miami FL	ACC	6-6	-7	-23
91	St John’s	Big East	7-7	5	-21
92	Georgia	SEC	8-4	-6	0
93	Bradley	Missouri Valley	9-4	4	21
94	South Dakota State	Summit	8-3	1	12
95	Arizona State	Pac-12	4-6	-6	-46
96	TCU	Big 12	9-5	-12	-22
97	Butler	Big East	4-7	2	-63
98	Kent State	MAC	6-3	7	62
99	Missouri State	Missouri Valley	9-1	2	25
100	Massachusetts	A10	5-3	6	55
101	North Texas	Conference USA	7-5	19	-8
102	Georgia State	Sun Belt	8-2	-2	8
103	Nevada	Mountain West	10-5	9	-19
104	DePaul	Big East	2-4	6	-13
105	Bowling Green	MAC	10-3	-14	35
106	Liberty	ASUN	12-5	-12	5
107	Belmont	OVC	14-1	-4	-8
108	Buffalo	MAC	5-4	-6	-3
109	Louisiana Tech	Conference USA	11-4	-5	-8
110	Pacific	WCC	5-1	28	18
111	Texas A&M	SEC	7-5	-2	-22
112	Boston College	ACC	3-10	4	15
113	Abilene Christian	Southland	11-2	1	57
114	South Florida	AAC	7-5	-6	-2
115	Wofford	Southern	8-4	0	16
116	Georgetown	Big East	3-8	-5	-22
117	Washington State	Pac-12	9-4	-10	27
118	Vermont	AEC	7-3	10	-41
119	Temple	AAC	3-3	15	17
120	Siena	MAAC	6-0	-1	36
121	Nebraska	Big Ten	4-8	-4	12
122	UNLV	Mountain West	3-6	21	-13
123	Loyola Marymount	WCC	6-4	-10	46
124	UC Santa Barbara	Big West	8-3	7	30
125	UC Irvine	Big West	6-4	-7	-8
126	Iowa State	Big 12	2-7	-5	-45
127	UNC Greensboro	Southern	8-5	8	-41
128	Grand Canyon	WAC	8-3	4	55
129	UC Riverside	Big West	6-3	34	89
130	Wake Forest	ACC	3-5	-1	-17
131	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	9-3	-4	34
132	Northeastern	CAA	7-5	-2	14
133	Eastern Washington	Big Sky	3-5	-8	-1
134	Ohio	MAC	7-6	-12	17
135	Cal State Bakersfield	Big West	9-4	7	73
136	Ball State	MAC	6-5	38	-2
137	Indiana State	Missouri Valley	6-7	18	-16
138	Akron	MAC	5-3	-15	-20
139	Santa Clara	WCC	8-3	-15	-2
140	California	Pac-12	7-8	8	-14
141	Pepperdine	WCC	5-6	10	-18
142	Oregon State	Pac-12	6-5	-16	-47
143	East Carolina	AAC	7-3	1	45
144	Mercer	Southern	8-4	-11	34
145	Bryant	NEC	10-3	-8	150
146	Duquesne	A10	3-5	-10	-44
147	Vanderbilt	SEC	4-6	-8	-6
148	Murray State	OVC	5-6	-1	-44
149	Texas State	Sun Belt	9-4	23	-34
150	Eastern Kentucky	OVC	12-2	7	90
151	New Mexico State	WAC	2-1	-2	-69
152	East Tennessee State	Southern	6-5	-6	-55
153	Monmouth	MAAC	7-4	-1	21
154	Kansas State	Big 12	5-9	5	-71
155	Old Dominion	Conference USA	8-4	-14	-36
156	Navy	Patriot	9-1	5	67
157	Army	Patriot	8-3	19	106
158	Sam Houston State	Southland	11-5	12	72
159	North Dakota State	Summit	7-7	-6	-2
160	Charlotte	Conference USA	6-6	5	26
161	Northern Iowa	Missouri Valley	3-10	-16	-90
162	Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley	7-3	-4	1
163	Hofstra	CAA	7-6	-23	-38
164	Arkansas Little Rock	Sun Belt	7-6	-14	-26
165	Weber State	Big Sky	6-3	22	91
166	Louisiana	Sun Belt	9-4	15	9
167	Oral Roberts	Summit	8-6	-5	17
168	South Dakota	Summit	6-6	0	28
169	George Mason	A10	6-6	19	-34
170	Drexel	CAA	6-5	-1	40
171	Florida Atlantic	Conference USA	7-6	44	18
172	Washington	Pac-12	1-11	-1	-112
173	Chattanooga	Southern	11-4	-9	6
174	St Peter’s	MAAC	6-5	-7	13
175	Montana State	Big Sky	7-3	7	46
176	UMBC	AEC	10-3	-1	27
177	Southern Utah	Big Sky	10-2	-4	13
178	Lafayette	Patriot	5-1	12	50
179	UTEP	Conference USA	6-6	-13	-7
180	Montana	Big Sky	6-7	-26	-35
181	UNC Wilmington	CAA	6-3	5	77
182	UT Arlington	Sun Belt	7-7	3	-29
183	Iona	MAAC	5-3	0	37
184	Tulane	AAC	6-4	-5	30
185	Appalachian State	Sun Belt	10-5	-1	6
186	Stephen F. Austin	Southland	7-2	27	-25
187	Cleveland State	Horizon	9-4	2	81
188	Rice	Conference USA	10-4	13	64
189	Western Carolina	Southern	7-4	2	-4
190	Nicholls State	Southland	6-5	8	47
191	La Salle	A10	5-8	-35	-32
192	Jacksonville State	OVC	8-5	0	59
193	Bellarmine	ASUN	5-5	56	140
194	Fresno State	Mountain West	5-5	-14	-51
195	UT Rio Grande Valley	WAC	8-3	15	62
196	Morehead State	OVC	9-6	48	109
197	Austin Peay	OVC	7-4	-2	-45
198	Gardner Webb	Big South	3-8	6	27
199	Purdue Fort Wayne	Horizon	6-5	22	34
200	South Alabama	Sun Belt	8-7	11	-29
201	UC Davis	Big West	2-2	4	11
202	Illinois Chicago	Horizon	7-4	26	-5
203	College of Charleston	CAA	5-8	-1	-53
204	FIU	Conference USA	8-6	-44	-36
205	Wisconsin Milwaukee	Horizon	5-4	-28	54
206	Saint Joseph’s	A10	1-9	2	-11
207	James Madison	CAA	6-4	22	77
208	Hawaii	Big West	3-3	-11	-14
209	Wyoming	Mountain West	7-5	-31	-16
210	Valparaiso	Missouri Valley	3-8	-7	-63
211	Lipscomb	ASUN	9-7	-4	-31
212	Hartford	AEC	9-6	24	38
213	LIU Brooklyn	NEC	4-2	-1	51
214	North Carolina Central	MEAC	1-3	13	73
215	Detroit	Horizon	3-7	39	57
216	George Washington	A10	3-9	14	-12
217	UTSA	Conference USA	5-8	7	-51
218	Utah Valley	WAC	5-5	17	24
219	Sacremento State	Big Sky	4-2	-20	-10
220	VMI	Southern	7-6	19	76
221	Miami OH	MAC	4-4	-4	-39
222	Albany	AEC	3-5	33	25
223	Northern Colorado	Big Sky	7-6	25	-84
224	Mt St Mary’s	NEC	4-5	29	65
225	Radford	Big South	8-6	0	-27
226	San Diego	WCC	1-5	-7	-50
227	UNC Asheville	Big South	7-6	29	44
228	New Hampshire	AEC	6-5	44	18
229	Missouri Kansas City	Summit	5-8	4	40
230	Massachusetts Lowell	AEC	6-8	17	55
231	Central Michigan	MAC	6-7	0	-30
232	Seattle	WAC	7-6	-6	9
233	Southern Miss	Conference USA	7-6	37	-1
234	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	9-6	3	-76
235	Eastern Michigan	MAC	4-5	-41	-73
236	Air Force	Mountain West	4-7	29	-21
237	Northern Kentucky	Horizon	5-8	-28	-88
238	Texas Southern	SWAC	2-7	-42	16
239	Niagara	MAAC	5-7	-25	38
240	Elon	CAA	3-3	5	8
241	Cal State Northridge	Big West	5-4	-9	40
242	Canisius	MAAC	3-3	-4	-20
243	Eastern Illinois	OVC	5-8	-43	-30
244	Illinois State	Missouri Valley	4-8	-2	-63
245	Samford	Southern	5-7	-29	70
246	Evansville	Missouri Valley	6-8	-28	15
247	Delaware	CAA	4-6	26	-55
248	Norfolk State	MEAC	8-4	-2	-3
249	NJIT	AEC	4-6	-29	4
250	Robert Morris	Horizon	3-5	-27	-26
251	St Francis PA	NEC	2-7	15	-45
252	Stony Brook	AEC	6-6	-46	-47
253	Stetson	ASUN	4-6	25	33
254	Bucknell	Patriot	2-4	37	-52
255	Oakland	Horizon	5-12	21	-44
256	New Mexico	Mountain West	4-7	3	-89
257	Florida Gulf Coast	ASUN	5-4	-64	-8
258	Towson	CAA	1-5	-15	-85
259	William & Mary	CAA	4-6	-2	-59
260	American University	Patriot	0-2	-26	-31
261	Campbell	Big South	8-7	6	-22
262	Prairie View A&M	SWAC	2-4	-2	20
263	Cal Baptist	WAC	5-4	0	-29
264	High Point	Big South	3-6	0	49
265	Morgan State	MEAC	6-4	-13	58
266	Citadel	Southern	8-2	-25	52
267	North Alabama	ASUN	7-3	21	25
268	Loyola Maryland	Patriot	0-2	-28	-6
269	St Francis NY	NEC	4-3	5	34
270	Wagner	NEC	2-5	-2	40
271	Middle Tennessee State	Conference USA	3-7	-49	-52
272	Western Michigan	MAC	2-8	-1	-37
273	Florida A&M	MEAC	2-6	-4	41
274	Marist	MAAC	7-5	-16	16
275	Southern University	SWAC	2-4	29	3
276	Cal State Fullerton	Big West	3-4	17	4
277	Central Arkansas	Southland	3-10	-27	16
278	Idaho State	Big Sky	7-5	12	33
279	North Florida	ASUN	4-10	5	-63
280	Long Beach State	Big West	3-4	1	-36
281	Youngstown State	Horizon	7-7	-30	-64
282	Troy	Sun Belt	6-7	-2	-7
283	Quinnipiac	MAAC	3-5	3	0
284	Nebraska Omaha	Summit	2-12	-7	-85
285	Jacksonville	ASUN	9-5	4	3
286	Wisconsin Green Bay	Horizon	3-11	-25	-59
287	IUPUI	Horizon	3-4	22	4
288	Alabama A&M	SWAC	3-0	6	53
289	North Dakota	Summit	4-11	-4	-34
290	SIU Edwardsville	OVC	3-4	8	44
291	Portland State	Big Sky	2-7	1	-60
292	Boston University	Patriot	1-5	-30	-128
293	Rider	MAAC	3-10	6	-86
294	Portland	WCC	6-7	-7	5
295	UC San Diego	Big West	2-3	-16	7
296	Sacred Heart	NEC	4-4	4	-29
297	Fordham	A10	1-5	-15	-71
298	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	5-6	16	-55
299	Farleigh Dickinson	NEC	2-6	-3	-39
300	Grambling	SWAC	5-6	15	9
301	Holy Cross	Patriot	2-4	6	31
302	Manhattan	MAAC	5-4	15	-37
303	New Orleans	Southland	3-9	10	13
304	Lehigh	Patriot	1-5	-21	-34
305	South East Missouri State	OVC	3-8	-10	22
306	Louisiana Monroe	Sun Belt	4-9	-9	-40
307	Tennessee State	OVC	2-8	-4	-33
308	Longwood	Big South	3-13	0	12
309	Hampton	Big South	7-8	1	-3
310	Merrimack	NEC	1-3	-35	-72
311	Tarleton State	WAC	2-7	-6	34
312	Texas A&M Corpus Christi	Southland	3-7	-11	-11
313	Jackson State	SWAC	1-5	5	-16
314	Northern Arizona	Big Sky	4-9	13	-41
315	Western Illinois	Summit	2-9	-3	20
316	Lamar	Southland	3-10	-5	-80
317	North Carolina A&T	MEAC	6-9	5	-17
318	South Carolina Upstate	Big South	3-11	-12	-6
319	Tennessee Tech	OVC	2-13	-3	-15
320	Northern Illinois	MAC	2-10	10	-143
321	Fairfield	MAAC	3-12	2	-42
322	Maine	AEC	2-7	-3	-1
323	Southeastern Louisiana	Southland	3-10	1	-6
324	Coppin State	MEAC	4-9	8	5
325	Central Conn	NEC	2-8	-4	1
326	Northwestern Louisiana	Southland	2-13	-6	-32
327	Howard	MEAC	1-4	2	10
328	Dixie State	WAC	4-5	-26	18
329	Houston Baptist	Southland	2-10	6	7
330	Presbyterian	Big South	3-5	-5	-2
331	Incarnate Word	Southland	5-6	7	7
332	Tennessee Martin	OVC	3-7	-1	-10
333	San Jose State	Mountain West	2-10	1	-35
334	Kennesaw State	ASUN	3-11	-1	9
335	Cal Poly	Big West	2-8	-9	-16
336	Denver	Summit	1-10	5	-28
337	McNeese State	Southland	6-7	-9	-30
338	Arkansas Pine Bluff	SWAC	3-9	1	-13
339	Binghamton	AEC	1-12	-3	-9
340	Charleston Southern	Big South	1-11	-3	-64
341	Idaho	Big Sky	0-11	-1	-17
342	Alcorn State	SWAC	1-6	0	-11
343	Alabama State	SWAC	1-4	0	-4
344	Delaware State	MEAC	0-9	0	-2
345	South Carolina State	MEAC	0-13	0	-5
346	Chicago State	WAC	0-9	0	-2
347	Mississippi Valley State	SWAC	0-11	0	0

January 18, 2021

College Basketball Viewing Guide – January 16th

Saturday marks one of the biggest days of the college basketball season to date, with four ranked vs ranked matchups and a number of bubble battles. Check out the official crazysportsdude college basketball viewing guide for Saturday, January 16th, 2020.

Time (ET)	MUSt-WATCH	SECOND SCREEN	KEEP AN EYE
12	#21 Ohio State @ #14 Illinois – FOX	north carolina @ Florida state – espn	SYRACUSE @ Pitt – ACC RSN
2	#7 Michigan @ #23 Minnesota – espn2	san diego state @ utah state – CBS (1:30)	kentucky @ auburn – espn
4	#2 baylor @ #15 texas tech – espn	ARkansas @ ALBAMA – SEC NEtwork (3:30)	florida @ mississippi state – espn2
6	#18 virginia @ #12 clemson – espn	belmont @ Jacksonville State – espn+ (5)	northern iowa @ loyola-chicago – espn2
8	#16 louisville @ Miami – ACC NETWORK	BYU @ SAN FRANCISCO – ESPN	south carolina @ LSU – SEC NETWORK (8:30)
10	#1 Gonzaga @ St. Mary’s – espn	California @ utah – espnu	washington state @ USC- Pac-12 network (9:30)

January 15, 2021

The First Bracketology of 2021

Time to check out the most accurate bracketology over the past two seasons according to bracketmatrix.com returns for 2020!

KEY

Italicized – Play-in game

Seed List

Note: The furthest left team is considered to be the highest-ranked on the seed line and the furthest right is considered to be the lowest-ranked

1 Seeds: Gonzaga, Baylor, Texas, Villanova
2 Seeds: Michigan, Iowa, Tennessee, Houston
3 Seeds: Kansas, Creighton, Wisconsin, Clemson
4 Seeds: Illinois, Missouri, West Virginia, Oregon
5 Seeds: Louisville, Ohio State, Texas Tech, Saint Louis
6 Seeds: Colorado, UConn, Minnesota, Virginia Tech
7 Seeds: UCLA, Virginia, Alabama, Rutgers
8 Seeds: San Diego State, USC, Florida State, Duke
9 Seeds: LSU, Arkansas, Xavier, Boise State
10 Seeds: Indiana, Seton Hall, Oklahoma State*, Purdue
11 Seeds: Stanford, North Carolina, Florida, Syracuse, Michigan State
12 Seeds: BYU, Richmond, Drake, Winthrop, Western Kentucky
13 Seeds: Toledo, Furman, Georgia State, South Dakota State
14 Seeds: Liberty, Belmont, Wright State, Abilene Christian
15 Seeds: Colgate, UC Irvine, Siena, Bryant
16 Seeds: New Mexico State, Northeastern, Stony Brook, Southern Utah, Texas Southern, Norfolk State

Bubble Watch

Last Four Byes
Purdue
Stanford
North Carolina
Florida
Last Four In
Syracuse
Michigan State
BYU
Richmond
First Four Out
Oklahoma
Northwestern
NC State
VCU
Next Four Out
Wichita State
Colorado State
Pittsburgh
St. Bonaventure

Bids By Conference

Big Ten – 10 (+1 in First Eight Out)
ACC – 8 (2)
SEC – 6 (0)
Big 12 – 6 (1)
Big East – 5 (0)
Pac-12 – 5 (0)
Atlantic 10 – 2 (2)
Mountain West – 2 (1)
WCC – 2 (0)
American – 1 (1)

January 12, 2021

CSD Top 25 Week 8 – Six Big Ten Teams Make The List

These are AP/NCAA Tournament “resume style” rankings with a twinge of eye test added in. If you want to check out my list of who the “best” teams are, check out my computer rankings.

#1 – Gonzaga (12-0)

4-0 in Q1 games with wins over Iowa, Kansas, West Virginia, and Virginia, the Zags are clearly the #1 team in the nation.

#2 – Baylor (11-0)

The Bears have won every game they have played by double digits, including a 13-point win over Illinois on a neutral court back in December.

#3 – Villanova (8-1)

Villanova is on COVID pause for now, but the road win against Texas keeps them in the #3 spot.

#4 – Texas (10-1)

3-1 in Q1 opportunities (and 3-0 in Q2), Texas is building one of the best resumes in the country.

#5 – Michigan (10-0)

The Wolverines are perfect, with a resume highlighted by an 82-57 thrashing of Minnesota. Wisconsin awaits in a primetime clash on Tuesday.

#6 – Iowa (11-2)

With wins over Minnesota, Rutgers, and North Carolina, Iowa remains the highest ranked two-loss team.

#7 – Tennessee (9-1)

With three Q1 wins already, the Vols should clearly be the highest-ranked team in the SEC. Rick Barnes’ squad gets Florida on January 19th in what should be a good one.

#8 – Houston (10-1)

The loss to Tulsa hurts, but the Cougs’ dominant win over Texas Tech keeps them above Kansas for now.

#9 – Kansas (10-2)

The Jayhawks’ only losses are to top-five teams, and they hold victories over Creighton, Texas Tech, and West Virginia. This group will be a contender in the Big 12 title race yet again.

#10 – Creighton (10-2)

The Bluejays are winners of six straight, and they won’t have to face Villanova until mid-February, so expect them to remain high.

#11 – Clemson (9-1)

With wins against Purdue, Alabama, and Florida State, the Tigers have clearly earned the right to be called the highest-ranked team in the ACC. Virginia awaits on Saturday.

#12 – Wisconsin (10-2)

Beat Michigan and they will skyrocket, but for now, two questionable losses (Marquette, Maryland) keep the Badgers out of the top ten.

#13 – Missouri (7-2)

The loss to a bad Mississippi State team hurts, but wins against Illinois, Oregon, and Arkansas keep the Tigers as one of the highest rated teams in the country.

#14 – Illinois (9-4)

Not only are they the highest-ranked four-loss team, but Illinois is above all three-loss teams as well. The Illini hold wins against Duke, Indiana, and Northwestern among others, and are loved by the metrics.

#15 – Texas Tech (10-3)

The three losses are all to good teams, and the Red Raiders hold a road win against Oklahoma. We will learn a lot more about this team this week, as they face Texas and Baylor.

#16 – Louisville (8-1)

The only loss came @ Wisconsin without many of their best players, and the Cards are winners of four straight since. This team could be a contender come March.

#17 – West Virginia (9-4)

All four of the Mountaineers’ losses came in Q1 games, and the Mountaineers are holders of six wins vs KenPom top 100 teams (eight vs the top 115).

#18 – Oregon (9-2)

The Ducks dropped a road game against Colorado on Thursday, but remain deserving of the top spot in the Pac-12 thanks to a resume that includes wins against Stanford, Utah, and Seton Hall.

#19 – Duke (5-2)

Duke has not lost since their game against Illinois on December 8th. The Blue Devils get their first chance at a Q1 win @ Virginia Tech on Tuesday.

#20 – Minnesota (10-4)

The head-to-head wins against Saint Louis and Ohio State keep the Golden Gophers from dropping any further, but Minnesota has lost three of their last four, with another game against Michigan coming Saturday.

#21 – Saint Louis (7-1)

The Billikens have cemented their place as the best mid-major in America (not including Gonzaga). The only loss came by single digits @ Minnesota, and SLU holds a win over LSU.

#22 – Ohio State (9-3)

Wins against UCLA and Rutgers highlight a resume that could get a lot stronger this week if the Buckeyes can knock off Illinois on Saturday.

#23 – UConn (6-1)

The only loss came in overtime to Creighton, and the Huskies hold wins over USC, Marquette, and Butler. They will have to wait to add another quality win to that list, however, as Friday’s game against Villanova was cancelled due to COVID-19 cases at VU.

#24 – Virginia Tech (10-2)

The pair of wins against Villanova and Clemson is huge, but a mind-boggling 20-point home loss to 3-4 Penn State deflates the Hokies’ ranking. VT gets Duke on Tuesday with a chance to add to their resume.

#25 – UCLA (9-2)

I went with a bit of a wildcard at the #25 spot, but UCLA has been excellent recently, with wins over Utah, Colorado, Arizona State, and Arizona since their December 19th loss to Ohio State. The Bruins are 5-0 in Pac-12 play and will contend for the conference title.

January 11, 2021

CSD Prime College Basketball Computer Rankings Week 8 – Baylor And Gonzaga Fight For #1

Gonzaga has been the story of college basketball this year, and for good reason. The Bulldogs have played a murderer’s row of a schedule, with four “Q1” and two “Q2” wins in non-conference play. However, by the slightest of margins, it is not Mark Few’s ‘Zags that come in first on these updated rankings, rather, Baylor does.

The Bears have had a quiet year, lacking the marquee showdowns of Gonzaga. Their only Q1 win came all the way back in the second week of the season, in a 10 PM Easterntip against Illinois that I am sure many missed.

Despite a weak schedule relative to Gonzaga, Scott Drew’s Bears have made the most of who they have played. The Bears have won every game by double-digits, winning by an average margin of 28 points, and that dominance has led them to the *just* edge out GU in the eyes of my computer.

The smooth ride for the nation’s #2 three-point shooting team may come to an end soon, though, as the Bears now hop into a murderer’s row of games over the next two weeks. It starts with a game against a tough West Virginia team on Tuesday, followed by a road tilt @ Texas Tech, a return home to face Kansas, and then @ Oklahoma State to close out the stretch. All four of those teams rank in my computer’s top 40, and all but Oklahoma State rank in the top 20.

We will soon see if Baylor’s dominance is real or just a product of who they have played soon, but for now, the Bears rest atop the rankings. As for Gonzaga, one of their toughest games remaining will come on Saturday, when they travel to play Saint Mary’s.

A reminder, as always, these rankings DO NOT reflect a team’s resume. They are solely used to measure a team’s strength in the sense Vegas would to set lines. Thus, team talent remains an important variable throughout the season. Additionally, recent games are weighted more heavily, and if you are lucky or don’t look good in a win, you may fall, while if you look good or are unlucky in a loss, you may rise. Let’s get into it.

If you are looking for an AP Poll “resume style” ranking, check out my top 25.

Rank	TEAM	Conf	Record	CHANGE	YTD CHANGE
1	Baylor	Big 12	11-0	1	3
2	Gonzaga	WCC	12-0	-1	-1
3	Iowa	Big Ten	11-2	2	4
4	Villanova	Big East	8-1	2	-2
5	Illinois	Big Ten	9-4	-2	3
6	Michigan	Big Ten	10-0	2	10
7	Texas	Big 12	10-1	2	14
8	Tennessee	SEC	9-1	-1	20
9	Wisconsin	Big Ten	10-2	-5	10
10	Creighton	Big East	10-2	3	0
11	Houston	AAC	10-1	-1	7
12	Kansas	Big 12	10-2	-1	-9
13	USC	Pac-12	8-2	23	46
14	Texas Tech	Big 12	10-3	-2	-2
15	Clemson	ACC	9-1	6	41
16	Colorado	Pac-12	8-3	9	31
17	West Virginia	Big 12	9-4	-3	-3
18	Arkansas	SEC	10-2	2	37
19	Oregon	Pac-12	9-2	-4	-4
20	Indiana	Big Ten	8-5	-1	4
21	Connecticut	Big East	6-1	19	20
22	Ohio State	Big Ten	9-3	6	-2
23	LSU	SEC	8-2	1	15
24	Alabama	SEC	9-3	14	26
25	Virginia	ACC	7-2	-8	-19
26	Louisville	ACC	8-1	7	-3
27	Saint Louis	A10	7-1	-11	39
28	UCLA	Pac-12	9-2	11	3
29	Purdue	Big Ten	8-5	8	-7
30	Florida State	ACC	5-2	-3	-19
31	Minnesota	Big Ten	10-4	1	12
32	North Carolina	ACC	7-4	3	-3
33	San Diego State	Mountain West	9-2	12	-8
34	Missouri	SEC	7-2	-12	45
35	Stanford	Pac-12	8-3	11	2
36	Oklahoma State	Big 12	8-3	-2	18
37	Drake	Missouri Valley	13-0	28	105
38	Virginia Tech	ACC	9-2	11	24
39	Oklahoma	Big 12	6-4	-10	-9
40	Rutgers	Big Ten	7-4	-22	6
41	Penn State	Big Ten	3-4	3	-2
42	Xavier	Big East	10-2	5	9
43	Florida	SEC	5-3	-20	-26
44	Arizona	Pac-12	9-3	-14	-12
45	Boise State	Mountain West	10-1	7	40
46	Seton Hall	Big East	9-5	-4	-19
47	Maryland	Big Ten	7-6	-6	-21
48	Syracuse	ACC	7-2	-22	-12
49	Michigan State	Big Ten	8-4	-6	-40
50	Duke	ACC	5-2	-19	-45
51	Northwestern	Big Ten	6-4	4	52
52	BYU	WCC	9-3	5	-19
53	North Carolina State	ACC	6-3	-5	-1
54	Utah State	Mountain West	9-3	24	3
55	Marquette	Big East	6-6	-2	-13
56	Kentucky	SEC	4-6	5	-43
57	SMU	AAC	6-2	-6	12
58	Providence	Big East	7-5	2	-23
59	Richmond	A10	9-3	0	6
60	Ole Miss	SEC	6-4	-10	12
61	VCU	A10	9-3	-5	27
62	Loyola-Chicago	Missouri Valley	7-3	-8	11
63	St Bonaventure	A10	4-1	0	33
64	Tulsa	AAC	7-3	10	34
65	Wichita State	AAC	7-3	3	-21
66	South Carolina	SEC	3-2	5	-2
67	Furman	Southern	8-3	0	13
68	Mississippi State	SEC	8-4	15	-7
69	Rhode Island	A10	6-6	7	6
70	Toledo	MAC	10-3	30	59
71	Georgia Tech	ACC	6-3	-5	-3
72	St Mary’s	WCC	9-3	-3	-27
73	Pittsburgh	ACC	6-2	4	27
74	UCF	AAC	3-3	11	34
75	Colorado State	Mountain West	8-2	4	32
76	Davidson	A10	6-5	-4	2
77	Memphis	AAC	6-4	-19	-14
78	Marshall	Conference USA	7-2	4	42
79	Auburn	SEC	6-6	-9	-31
80	Cincinnati	AAC	3-7	0	-40
81	San Francisco	WCC	8-6	7	9
82	Colgate	Patriot	3-1	21	48
83	Miami FL	ACC	5-5	7	-16
84	TCU	Big 12	9-4	-22	-10
85	Utah	Pac-12	4-4	-10	-9
86	Georgia	SEC	7-3	-5	6
87	Winthrop	Big South	11-0	6	35
88	Wright State	Horizon	8-3	4	28
89	Arizona State	Pac-12	4-5	-25	-40
90	Dayton	A10	6-3	-1	-37
91	Bowling Green	MAC	9-2	14	49
92	UAB	Conference USA	9-1	-6	56
93	Notre Dame	ACC	3-7	-6	-35
94	Liberty	ASUN	11-4	2	17
95	South Dakota State	Summit	8-3	6	11
96	St John’s	Big East	6-6	-5	-26
97	Bradley	Missouri Valley	6-4	2	17
98	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	9-4	-25	-11
99	Butler	Big East	3-6	3	-65
100	Georgia State	Sun Belt	7-2	-6	10
101	Missouri State	Missouri Valley	8-1	12	23
102	Buffalo	MAC	4-3	7	3
103	Belmont	OVC	12-1	-6	-4
104	Louisiana Tech	Conference USA	9-4	10	-3
105	Kent State	MAC	4-3	25	55
106	Massachusetts	A10	3-3	12	49
107	Washington State	Pac-12	9-2	4	37
108	South Florida	AAC	7-5	-10	4
109	Texas A&M	SEC	6-4	-25	-20
110	DePaul	Big East	1-3	-6	-19
111	Georgetown	Big East	3-8	4	-17
112	Nevada	Mountain West	8-5	8	-28
113	Loyola Marymount	WCC	6-3	27	56
114	Abilene Christian	Southland	10-2	-7	56
115	Wofford	Southern	6-4	1	16
116	Boston College	ACC	2-9	-6	11
117	Nebraska	Big Ten	4-8	2	16
118	UC Irvine	Big West	6-4	32	-1
119	Siena	MAAC	4-0	57	37
120	North Texas	Conference USA	5-5	-25	-27
121	Iowa State	Big 12	2-7	-9	-40
122	Ohio	MAC	6-5	-16	29
123	Akron	MAC	4-2	-6	-5
124	Santa Clara	WCC	7-2	23	13
125	Eastern Washington	Big Sky	2-4	2	7
126	Oregon State	Pac-12	5-4	0	-31
127	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	9-2	19	38
128	Vermont	AEC	5-3	20	-51
129	Wake Forest	ACC	3-3	8	-16
130	Northeastern	CAA	5-5	42	16
131	UC Santa Barbara	Big West	6-3	21	23
132	Grand Canyon	WAC	6-3	11	51
133	Mercer	Southern	7-3	-9	45
134	Temple	AAC	1-2	19	2
135	UNC Greensboro	Southern	6-5	-14	-49
136	Duquesne	A10	3-3	-28	-34
137	Bryant	NEC	9-2	29	158
138	Pacific	WCC	3-1	-5	-10
139	Vanderbilt	SEC	4-5	3	2
140	Hofstra	CAA	6-5	-9	-15
141	Old Dominion	Conference USA	7-3	-16	-22
142	Cal State Bakersfield	Big West	7-4	23	66
143	UNLV	Mountain West	1-6	-5	-34
144	East Carolina	AAC	7-3	-21	44
145	Northern Iowa	Missouri Valley	3-7	-16	-74
146	East Tennessee State	Southern	6-4	12	-49
147	Murray State	OVC	4-6	-6	-43
148	California	Pac-12	6-7	-16	-22
149	New Mexico State	WAC	2-1	-27	-67
150	Arkansas Little Rock	Sun Belt	7-4	-22	-12
151	Pepperdine	WCC	4-5	-12	-28
152	Monmouth	MAAC	5-4	23	22
153	North Dakota State	Summit	6-6	31	4
154	Montana	Big Sky	5-6	13	-9
155	Indiana State	Missouri Valley	4-6	-10	-34
156	La Salle	A10	5-6	0	3
157	Eastern Kentucky	OVC	11-2	16	83
158	Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley	7-3	3	5
159	Kansas State	Big 12	5-8	-23	-76
160	FIU	Conference USA	8-4	4	8
161	Navy	Patriot	7-1	8	62
162	Oral Roberts	Summit	6-6	-18	22
163	UC Riverside	Big West	4-2	-14	55
164	Chattanooga	Southern	10-3	-9	15
165	Charlotte	Conference USA	5-5	-11	21
166	UTEP	Conference USA	6-4	-15	6
167	St Peter’s	MAAC	6-5	-4	20
168	South Dakota	Summit	6-6	24	28
169	Drexel	CAA	5-4	2	41
170	Sam Houston State	Southland	9-5	54	60
171	Washington	Pac-12	1-9	-36	-111
172	Texas State	Sun Belt	7-4	8	-57
173	Southern Utah	Big Sky	9-1	10	17
174	Ball State	MAC	4-5	-12	-40
175	UMBC	AEC	9-2	20	28
176	Army	Patriot	6-3	2	87
177	Wisconsin Milwaukee	Horizon	5-2	26	82
178	Wyoming	Mountain West	7-2	-21	15
179	Tulane	AAC	6-3	-2	35
180	Fresno State	Mountain West	5-3	37	-37
181	Louisiana	Sun Belt	8-3	13	-6
182	Montana State	Big Sky	5-3	38	39
183	Iona	MAAC	5-3	7	37
184	Appalachian State	Sun Belt	9-4	5	7
185	UT Arlington	Sun Belt	6-6	-3	-32
186	UNC Wilmington	CAA	6-3	-1	72
187	Weber State	Big Sky	4-3	22	69
188	George Mason	A10	5-5	-29	-53
189	Cleveland State	Horizon	8-3	10	79
190	Lafayette	Patriot	3-1	-11	38
191	Western Carolina	Southern	7-3	-23	-6
192	Jacksonville State	OVC	7-4	-11	59
193	Florida Gulf Coast	ASUN	5-2	30	56
194	Eastern Michigan	MAC	3-3	65	-32
195	Austin Peay	OVC	7-4	-7	-43
196	Texas Southern	SWAC	2-5	8	58
197	Hawaii	Big West	3-1	-37	-3
198	Nicholls State	Southland	4-5	35	39
199	Sacremento State	Big Sky	4-1	15	10
200	Eastern Illinois	OVC	5-6	-4	13
201	Rice	Conference USA	9-3	27	51
202	College of Charleston	CAA	5-6	13	-52
203	Valparaiso	Missouri Valley	3-7	-33	-56
204	Gardner Webb	Big South	3-8	8	21
205	UC Davis	Big West	2-2	2	7
206	Stony Brook	AEC	6-4	25	-1
207	Lipscomb	ASUN	8-6	1	-27
208	Saint Joseph’s	A10	1-8	-15	-13
209	Northern Kentucky	Horizon	5-6	-4	-60
210	UT Rio Grande Valley	WAC	6-3	19	47
211	South Alabama	Sun Belt	7-6	-37	-40
212	LIU Brooklyn	NEC	3-1	26	52
213	Stephen F. Austin	Southland	5-2	-13	-52
214	Niagara	MAAC	5-5	-1	63
215	Florida Atlantic	Conference USA	5-6	-29	-26
216	Samford	Southern	5-5	-14	99
217	Miami OH	MAC	4-3	-20	-35
218	Evansville	Missouri Valley	6-6	18	43
219	San Diego	WCC	1-4	15	-43
220	NJIT	AEC	4-4	-1	33
221	Purdue Fort Wayne	Horizon	4-5	62	12
222	Middle Tennessee State	Conference USA	3-5	10	-3
223	Robert Morris	Horizon	3-3	23	1
224	UTSA	Conference USA	5-6	-18	-58
225	Radford	Big South	8-6	65	-27
226	Seattle	WAC	7-5	31	15
227	North Carolina Central	MEAC	1-3	23	60
228	Illinois Chicago	Horizon	5-4	-37	-31
229	James Madison	CAA	5-4	35	55
230	George Washington	A10	3-7	7	-26
231	Central Michigan	MAC	5-6	13	-30
232	Cal State Northridge	Big West	4-3	38	49
233	Missouri Kansas City	Summit	5-8	20	36
234	American University	Patriot	0-0	-47	-5
235	Utah Valley	WAC	4-5	53	7
236	Hartford	AEC	8-5	7	14
237	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	7-6	-21	-79
238	Canisius	MAAC	3-3	7	-16
239	VMI	Southern	6-5	-13	57
240	Loyola Maryland	Patriot	0-0	-30	22
241	Citadel	Southern	8-0	44	77
242	Illinois State	Missouri Valley	4-6	-2	-61
243	Towson	CAA	1-4	-22	-70
244	Morehead State	OVC	7-6	24	61
245	Elon	CAA	3-3	2	3
246	Norfolk State	MEAC	5-4	-11	-1
247	Massachusetts Lowell	AEC	4-8	11	38
248	Northern Colorado	Big Sky	5-6	-30	-109
249	Bellarmine	ASUN	3-5	17	84
250	Central Arkansas	Southland	3-8	4	43
251	Youngstown State	Horizon	7-5	-26	-34
252	Morgan State	MEAC	5-3	9	71
253	Mt St Mary’s	NEC	2-5	-52	36
254	Detroit	Horizon	1-7	-5	18
255	Albany	AEC	1-5	19	-8
256	UNC Asheville	Big South	5-6	-17	15
257	William & Mary	CAA	3-5	20	-57
258	Marist	MAAC	6-4	-2	32
259	New Mexico	Mountain West	3-6	-48	-92
260	Prairie View A&M	SWAC	1-4	12	22
261	Wisconsin Green Bay	Horizon	3-9	14	-34
262	Boston University	Patriot	1-3	-128	-98
263	Cal Baptist	WAC	3-4	-41	-29
264	High Point	Big South	3-6	5	49
265	Air Force	Mountain West	3-7	8	-50
266	St Francis PA	NEC	1-6	-25	-60
267	Campbell	Big South	6-7	4	-28
268	Wagner	NEC	1-4	8	42
269	Florida A&M	MEAC	2-6	-2	45
270	Southern Miss	Conference USA	5-6	-15	-38
271	Western Michigan	MAC	2-7	-6	-36
272	New Hampshire	AEC	4-5	-30	-26
273	Delaware	CAA	3-5	-10	-81
274	St Francis NY	NEC	4-3	24	29
275	Merrimack	NEC	1-1	-77	-37
276	Oakland	Horizon	3-12	-24	-65
277	Nebraska Omaha	Summit	2-12	-17	-78
278	Stetson	ASUN	3-5	3	8
279	UC San Diego	Big West	2-1	-28	23
280	Troy	Sun Belt	6-5	-18	-5
281	Long Beach State	Big West	3-4	-3	-37
282	Fordham	A10	1-3	15	-56
283	Lehigh	Patriot	1-3	-56	-13
284	North Florida	ASUN	3-9	2	-68
285	North Dakota	Summit	3-10	-1	-30
286	Quinnipiac	MAAC	3-3	-7	-3
287	Portland	WCC	6-5	8	12
288	North Alabama	ASUN	5-3	-40	4
289	Jacksonville	ASUN	9-5	-2	-1
290	Idaho State	Big Sky	6-5	6	21
291	Bucknell	Patriot	0-4	-61	-89
292	Portland State	Big Sky	2-5	0	-61
293	Cal State Fullerton	Big West	2-3	18	-13
294	Alabama A&M	SWAC	2-0	-14	47
295	South East Missouri State	OVC	3-7	-1	32
296	Farleigh Dickinson	NEC	2-6	-14	-36
297	Louisiana Monroe	Sun Belt	4-7	-6	-31
298	SIU Edwardsville	OVC	3-4	-5	36
299	Rider	MAAC	3-8	0	-92
300	Sacred Heart	NEC	3-4	15	-33
301	Texas A&M Corpus Christi	Southland	3-6	4	0
302	Dixie State	WAC	4-2	12	44
303	Tennessee State	OVC	2-6	0	-29
304	Southern University	SWAC	1-4	-15	-26
305	Tarleton State	WAC	2-4	17	40
306	South Carolina Upstate	Big South	3-9	12	6
307	Holy Cross	Patriot	2-2	12	25
308	Longwood	Big South	3-11	-4	12
309	IUPUI	Horizon	1-4	-9	-18
310	Hampton	Big South	5-8	14	-4
311	Lamar	Southland	3-9	-9	-75
312	Western Illinois	Summit	2-9	17	23
313	New Orleans	Southland	2-9	18	3
314	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	3-6	-4	-71
315	Grambling	SWAC	3-6	-9	-6
316	Tennessee Tech	OVC	1-12	-15	-12
317	Manhattan	MAAC	3-4	-1	-52
318	Jackson State	SWAC	1-5	-5	-21
319	Maine	AEC	2-5	4	2
320	Northwestern Louisiana	Southland	2-12	-12	-26
321	Central Conn	NEC	2-7	-1	5
322	North Carolina A&T	MEAC	5-9	-10	-22
323	Fairfield	MAAC	2-11	-2	-44
324	Southeastern Louisiana	Southland	2-9	-7	-7
325	Presbyterian	Big South	3-3	12	3
326	Cal Poly	Big West	2-6	4	-7
327	Northern Arizona	Big Sky	3-8	-18	-54
328	McNeese State	Southland	6-5	6	-21
329	Howard	MEAC	1-4	11	8
330	Northern Illinois	MAC	1-9	-23	-153
331	Tennessee Martin	OVC	3-6	-6	-9
332	Coppin State	MEAC	3-8	-6	-3
333	Kennesaw State	ASUN	3-9	8	10
334	San Jose State	Mountain West	2-8	-2	-36
335	Houston Baptist	Southland	2-9	7	1
336	Binghamton	AEC	1-10	-8	-6
337	Charleston Southern	Big South	1-9	-10	-61
338	Incarnate Word	Southland	4-5	-2	0
339	Arkansas Pine Bluff	SWAC	3-8	-6	-14
340	Idaho	Big Sky	0-9	-2	-16
341	Denver	Summit	1-8	-6	-33
342	Alcorn State	SWAC	0-5	-3	-11
343	Alabama State	SWAC	0-3	1	-4
344	Delaware State	MEAC	0-7	-1	-2
345	South Carolina State	MEAC	0-13	0	-5
346	Chicago State	WAC	0-9	0	-2
347	Mississippi Valley State	SWAC	0-9	0	0

January 11, 2021

CSD Prime College Basketball Computer Rankings Week 7 – A Four-Way Scramble In The Big Ten

A reminder, as always, these rankings DO NOT reflect a team’s resume. They are solely used to measure a team’s strength in the sense Vegas would to set lines. Thus, team talent remains an important variable throughout the season. Additionally, recent games are weighted more heavily, and if you are lucky or don’t look good in a win, you may fall, while if you look good or are unlucky in a loss, you may rise. Let’s get into it.

Rank	Name	CONF	Record	CHANGE
1	Gonzaga	WCC	10-0	0
2	Baylor	Big 12	9-0	0
3	Illinois	Big Ten	8-3	1
4	Wisconsin	Big Ten	9-2	1
5	Iowa	Big Ten	9-2	-2
6	Villanova	Big East	8-1	2
7	Tennessee	SEC	7-1	3
8	Michigan	Big Ten	9-0	3
9	Texas	Big 12	8-1	5
10	Houston	AAC	8-1	-3
11	Kansas	Big 12	8-2	-5
12	Texas Tech	Big 12	8-3	-3
13	Creighton	Big East	8-2	-1
14	West Virginia	Big 12	8-3	-1
15	Oregon	Pac-12	8-1	2
16	Saint Louis	A10	7-1	6
17	Virginia	ACC	5-2	-2
18	Rutgers	Big Ten	7-2	-2
19	Indiana	Big Ten	6-4	2
20	Arkansas	SEC	9-1	4
21	Clemson	ACC	8-1	5
22	Missouri	SEC	7-1	9
23	Florida	SEC	5-1	6
24	LSU	SEC	6-2	-1
25	Colorado	Pac-12	7-3	2
26	Syracuse	ACC	6-1	4
27	Florida State	ACC	5-2	-9
28	Ohio State	Big Ten	8-3	-9
29	Oklahoma	Big 12	6-2	3
30	Arizona	Pac-12	9-1	16
31	Duke	ACC	3-2	-11
32	Minnesota	Big Ten	10-2	13
33	Louisville	ACC	7-1	0
34	Oklahoma State	Big 12	7-2	5
35	North Carolina	ACC	6-4	-10
36	USC	Pac-12	6-2	0
37	Purdue	Big Ten	7-5	-3
38	Alabama	SEC	7-3	12
39	UCLA	Pac-12	7-2	-4
40	Connecticut	Big East	4-1	9
41	Maryland	Big Ten	6-4	0
42	Seton Hall	Big East	8-4	9
43	Michigan State	Big Ten	7-3	-15
44	Penn State	Big Ten	3-4	4
45	San Diego State	Mountain West	6-2	-7
46	Stanford	Pac-12	5-3	-4
47	Xavier	Big East	8-2	-7
48	North Carolina State	ACC	6-1	-5
49	Virginia Tech	ACC	8-1	-2
50	Ole Miss	SEC	5-3	-13
51	SMU	AAC	6-1	-7
52	Boise State	Mountain West	8-1	4
53	Marquette	Big East	6-5	0
54	Loyola-Chicago	Missouri Valley	7-2	11
55	Northwestern	Big Ten	6-3	-1
56	VCU	A10	8-2	5
57	BYU	WCC	9-2	-5
58	Memphis	AAC	6-4	-3
59	Richmond	A10	7-3	-2
60	Providence	Big East	7-4	4
61	Kentucky	SEC	2-6	-1
62	TCU	Big 12	9-2	4
63	St Bonaventure	A10	3-1	4
64	Arizona State	Pac-12	4-3	-1
65	Drake	Missouri Valley	12-0	9
66	Georgia Tech	ACC	6-3	7
67	Furman	Southern	8-3	-5
68	Wichita State	AAC	6-2	11
69	St Mary’s	WCC	9-2	8
70	Auburn	SEC	6-4	-11
71	South Carolina	SEC	2-2	-3
72	Davidson	A10	5-4	3
73	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	8-3	-1
74	Tulsa	AAC	6-3	11
75	Utah	Pac-12	4-3	-5
76	Rhode Island	A10	5-5	8
77	Pittsburgh	ACC	5-2	1
78	Utah State	Mountain West	7-3	18
79	Colorado State	Mountain West	6-1	23
80	Cincinnati	AAC	2-6	-9
81	Georgia	SEC	7-1	-12
82	Marshall	Conference USA	7-2	-1
83	Mississippi State	SEC	6-4	-1
84	Texas A&M	SEC	6-2	-8
85	UCF	AAC	3-3	-5
86	UAB	Conference USA	7-1	2
87	Notre Dame	ACC	3-6	0
88	San Francisco	WCC	7-5	-5
89	Dayton	A10	5-2	-31
90	Miami FL	ACC	4-4	5
91	St John’s	Big East	6-4	1
92	Wright State	Horizon	7-2	5
93	Winthrop	Big South	7-0	-4
94	Georgia State	Sun Belt	7-2	0
95	North Texas	Conference USA	4-4	-4
96	Liberty	ASUN	9-4	2
97	Belmont	OVC	10-1	10
98	South Florida	AAC	6-4	10
99	Bradley	Missouri Valley	6-3	0
100	Toledo	MAC	8-3	3
101	South Dakota State	Summit	5-3	0
102	Butler	Big East	2-5	-16
103	Colgate	Patriot	1-1	48
104	DePaul	Big East	1-2	-4
105	Bowling Green	MAC	7-2	20
106	Ohio	MAC	5-4	14
107	Abilene Christian	Southland	9-2	10
108	Duquesne	A10	2-2	-15
109	Buffalo	MAC	3-3	7
110	Boston College	ACC	2-7	0
111	Washington State	Pac-12	8-1	7
112	Iowa State	Big 12	2-5	-7
113	Missouri State	Missouri Valley	6-1	13
114	Louisiana Tech	Conference USA	8-3	-1
115	Georgetown	Big East	3-6	0
116	Wofford	Southern	5-3	16
117	Akron	MAC	4-1	4
118	Massachusetts	A10	2-3	-7
119	Nebraska	Big Ten	4-7	0
120	Nevada	Mountain West	8-3	8
121	UNC Greensboro	Southern	5-4	-12
122	New Mexico State	WAC	2-1	-32
123	East Carolina	AAC	7-2	-1
124	Mercer	Southern	7-3	-1
125	Old Dominion	Conference USA	5-3	4
126	Oregon State	Pac-12	5-3	1
127	Eastern Washington	Big Sky	2-4	9
128	Arkansas Little Rock	Sun Belt	6-3	6
129	Northern Iowa	Missouri Valley	2-7	-15
130	Kent State	MAC	3-2	0
131	Hofstra	CAA	6-3	2
132	California	Pac-12	5-6	-1
133	Pacific	WCC	3-1	9
134	Boston University	Patriot	0-0	48
135	Washington	Pac-12	1-7	-11
136	Kansas State	Big 12	5-6	-1
137	Wake Forest	ACC	3-1	-33
138	UNLV	Mountain West	1-4	5
139	Pepperdine	WCC	4-5	5
140	Loyola Marymount	WCC	5-3	10
141	Murray State	OVC	4-5	-35
142	Vanderbilt	SEC	4-3	-4
143	Grand Canyon	WAC	4-3	2
144	Oral Roberts	Summit	5-5	12
145	Indiana State	Missouri Valley	3-6	-4
146	Coastal Carolina	Sun Belt	7-2	13
147	Santa Clara	WCC	6-2	0
148	Vermont	AEC	3-3	-36
149	UC Riverside	Big West	3-1	5
150	UC Irvine	Big West	5-4	2
151	UTEP	Conference USA	5-3	6
152	UC Santa Barbara	Big West	6-3	-15
153	Temple	AAC	1-2	-4
154	Charlotte	Conference USA	5-4	9
155	Chattanooga	Southern	9-2	-9
156	La Salle	A10	5-5	24
157	Wyoming	Mountain West	7-1	7
158	East Tennessee State	Southern	6-4	11
159	George Mason	A10	5-3	17
160	Hawaii	Big West	2-0	-2
161	Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley	7-2	-21
162	Ball State	MAC	4-4	-23
163	St Peter’s	MAAC	6-5	-10
164	FIU	Conference USA	7-3	6
165	Cal State Bakersfield	Big West	5-4	-5
166	Bryant	NEC	7-2	-1
167	Montana	Big Sky	3-6	-19
168	Western Carolina	Southern	7-3	-6
169	Navy	Patriot	5-1	4
170	Valparaiso	Missouri Valley	3-5	-15
171	Drexel	CAA	5-2	-5
172	Northeastern	CAA	3-5	0
173	Eastern Kentucky	OVC	9-2	10
174	South Alabama	Sun Belt	7-4	-6
175	Monmouth	MAAC	3-3	21
176	Siena	MAAC	1-0	12
177	Tulane	AAC	6-2	4
178	Army	Patriot	5-2	0
179	Lafayette	Patriot	1-1	72
180	Texas State	Sun Belt	7-4	-9
181	Jacksonville State	OVC	7-2	13
182	UT Arlington	Sun Belt	4-6	-15
183	Southern Utah	Big Sky	7-1	-6
184	North Dakota State	Summit	4-6	-5
185	UNC Wilmington	CAA	6-3	2
186	Florida Atlantic	Conference USA	5-3	-11
187	American University	Patriot	0-0	57
188	Austin Peay	OVC	6-4	-27
189	Appalachian State	Sun Belt	7-4	-15
190	Iona	MAAC	5-3	5
191	Illinois Chicago	Horizon	5-2	1
192	South Dakota	Summit	4-6	16
193	Saint Joseph’s	A10	0-7	0
194	Louisiana	Sun Belt	7-2	-10
195	UMBC	AEC	7-2	-5
196	Eastern Illinois	OVC	4-5	-7
197	Miami OH	MAC	3-3	4
198	Merrimack	NEC	0-0	63
199	Cleveland State	Horizon	6-3	16
200	Stephen F. Austin	Southland	4-2	0
201	Mt St Mary’s	NEC	2-3	16
202	Samford	Southern	5-4	30
203	Wisconsin Milwaukee	Horizon	3-2	0
204	Texas Southern	SWAC	2-5	18
205	Northern Kentucky	Horizon	5-4	-20
206	UTSA	Conference USA	4-5	-20
207	UC Davis	Big West	2-2	-10
208	Lipscomb	ASUN	6-6	3
209	Weber State	Big Sky	4-3	-2
210	Loyola Maryland	Patriot	0-0	55
211	New Mexico	Mountain West	3-4	-13
212	Gardner Webb	Big South	2-5	-8
213	Niagara	MAAC	4-4	18
214	Sacremento State	Big Sky	4-1	-23
215	College of Charleston	CAA	3-6	-13
216	Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	7-4	-11
217	Fresno State	Mountain West	2-3	-11
218	Northern Colorado	Big Sky	5-3	-8
219	NJIT	AEC	3-3	-6
220	Montana State	Big Sky	3-3	3
221	Towson	CAA	1-4	3
222	Cal Baptist	WAC	3-2	-13
223	Florida Gulf Coast	ASUN	5-2	6
224	Sam Houston State	Southland	7-5	12
225	Youngstown State	Horizon	5-4	-26
226	VMI	Southern	6-5	16
227	Lehigh	Patriot	1-1	37
228	Rice	Conference USA	8-2	10
229	UT Rio Grande Valley	WAC	5-3	-8
230	Bucknell	Patriot	0-2	-10
231	Stony Brook	AEC	6-4	-4
232	Middle Tennessee State	Conference USA	2-4	-14
233	Nicholls State	Southland	2-5	-14
234	San Diego	WCC	1-4	12
235	Norfolk State	MEAC	4-3	-1
236	Evansville	Missouri Valley	5-5	54
237	George Washington	A10	3-7	6
238	LIU Brooklyn	NEC	1-1	-8
239	UNC Asheville	Big South	4-5	-14
240	Illinois State	Missouri Valley	3-5	-24
241	St Francis PA	NEC	1-4	-13
242	New Hampshire	AEC	4-3	-1
243	Hartford	AEC	7-4	-10
244	Central Michigan	MAC	5-4	1
245	Canisius	MAAC	3-3	29
246	Robert Morris	Horizon	3-3	-6
247	Elon	CAA	3-3	-35
248	North Alabama	ASUN	4-2	-13
249	Detroit	Horizon	1-7	-2
250	North Carolina Central	MEAC	1-3	-1
251	UC San Diego	Big West	2-0	-1
252	Oakland	Horizon	3-10	-4
253	Missouri Kansas City	Summit	5-6	5
254	Central Arkansas	Southland	2-7	-1
255	Southern Miss	Conference USA	5-4	22
256	Marist	MAAC	6-2	14
257	Seattle	WAC	6-5	6
258	Massachusetts Lowell	AEC	3-7	-32
259	Eastern Michigan	MAC	2-3	-45
260	Nebraska Omaha	Summit	2-10	-21
261	Morgan State	MEAC	4-2	25
262	Troy	Sun Belt	6-5	-5
263	Delaware	CAA	3-4	-11
264	James Madison	CAA	3-4	-9
265	Western Michigan	MAC	2-6	-9
266	Bellarmine	ASUN	3-3	1
267	Florida A&M	MEAC	1-6	9
268	Morehead State	OVC	5-6	17
269	High Point	Big South	3-6	-10
270	Cal State Northridge	Big West	4-3	-16
271	Campbell	Big South	4-5	1
272	Prairie View A&M	SWAC	1-4	10
273	Air Force	Mountain West	3-5	-36
274	Albany	AEC	1-4	26
275	Wisconsin Green Bay	Horizon	1-9	-2
276	Wagner	NEC	1-4	-5
277	William & Mary	CAA	2-5	-15
278	Long Beach State	Big West	2-3	3
279	Quinnipiac	MAAC	2-2	-11
280	Alabama A&M	SWAC	2-0	8
281	Stetson	ASUN	2-4	-3
282	Farleigh Dickinson	NEC	2-6	-3
283	Purdue Fort Wayne	Horizon	2-5	9
284	North Dakota	Summit	2-9	-24
285	Citadel	Southern	7-0	14
286	North Florida	ASUN	2-8	-11
287	Jacksonville	ASUN	8-4	2
288	Utah Valley	WAC	2-5	-4
289	Southern University	SWAC	0-4	13
290	Radford	Big South	4-6	-21
291	Louisiana Monroe	Sun Belt	4-5	7
292	Portland State	Big Sky	2-4	-12
293	SIU Edwardsville	OVC	3-4	4
294	South East Missouri State	OVC	3-6	9
295	Portland	WCC	6-3	-1
296	Idaho State	Big Sky	4-5	-5
297	Fordham	A10	0-2	-31
298	St Francis NY	NEC	2-3	-3
299	Rider	MAAC	2-7	5
300	IUPUI	Horizon	1-2	-13
301	Tennessee Tech	OVC	1-10	10
302	Lamar	Southland	2-8	-1
303	Tennessee State	OVC	1-6	-7
304	Longwood	Big South	2-8	8
305	Texas A&M Corpus Christi	Southland	3-6	5
306	Grambling	SWAC	3-5	9
307	Northern Illinois	MAC	1-7	-14
308	Northwestern Louisiana	Southland	1-11	-3
309	Northern Arizona	Big Sky	3-6	10
310	Arkansas State	Sun Belt	3-6	-27
311	Cal State Fullerton	Big West	1-2	9
312	North Carolina A&T	MEAC	5-9	-3
313	Jackson State	SWAC	0-5	1
314	Dixie State	WAC	4-2	-8
315	Sacred Heart	NEC	2-3	-8
316	Manhattan	MAAC	2-3	5
317	Southeastern Louisiana	Southland	2-7	-9
318	South Carolina Upstate	Big South	1-9	-5
319	Holy Cross	Patriot	0-0	15
320	Central Conn	NEC	2-5	3
321	Fairfield	MAAC	2-9	-5
322	Tarleton State	WAC	2-2	-4
323	Maine	AEC	1-4	7
324	Hampton	Big South	4-5	3
325	Tennessee Martin	OVC	3-4	-3
326	Coppin State	MEAC	1-8	7
327	Charleston Southern	Big South	1-5	2
328	Binghamton	AEC	1-8	8
329	Western Illinois	Summit	2-7	-4
330	Cal Poly	Big West	2-4	1
331	New Orleans	Southland	1-8	-7
332	San Jose State	Mountain West	1-6	-6
333	Arkansas Pine Bluff	SWAC	2-8	8
334	McNeese State	Southland	6-4	-6
335	Denver	Summit	1-8	-3
336	Incarnate Word	Southland	3-4	4
337	Presbyterian	Big South	3-3	0
338	Idaho	Big Sky	0-7	-21
339	Alcorn State	SWAC	0-5	0
340	Howard	MEAC	1-4	-5
341	Kennesaw State	ASUN	3-7	-3
342	Houston Baptist	Southland	2-7	1
343	Delaware State	MEAC	0-5	1
344	Alabama State	SWAC	0-1	-2
345	South Carolina State	MEAC	0-12	0
346	Chicago State	WAC	0-9	0
347	Mississippi Valley State	SWAC	0-9	0

January 4, 2021

CSD Prime College Basketball Picks Week 5 – Conference Play Underway

Monday, December 28th

Maryland (5-3, 0-2 Big Ten) @ #6 Wisconsin (8-1, 2-0 Big Ten)
7 PM ET, FS1

Pick: Wisconsin

#17 Michigan State (6-2, 0-2 Big Ten) @ #21 Minnesota (8-1, 1-1 Big Ten)
8 PM ET, BTN

Pick: Minnesota

Colorado (6-1, 0-0 Pac-12) @ Arizona (6-1, 0-1 Pac-12)
9:30 PM ET, Pac-12 Network

Pick: Arizona

Tuesday, December 29th

Miami (4-2, 0-1 ACC) @ #24 Virginia Tech (7-1, 1-0 ACC)
6 PM ET, ACC Network

Pick: Virginia Tech

Purdue (7-3, 2-1 Big Ten) @ #14 Rutgers (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten)
7 PM ET, FS1

Pick: Rutgers

#18 Florida State (5-1, 1-0 ACC) @ Clemson (6-1, 0-1 ACC)
7 PM ET, ESPN3/RSN

Pick: Clemson

#19 Northwestern (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten) @ #10 Iowa (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten)
9 PM ET, FS1

Pick: Iowa

Ole Miss (5-1, 0-0 SEC) @ Alabama (5-3, 0-0 SEC)
9 PM ET, SEC Network

Pick: Alabama

Wednesday, December 30th

#23 Virginia (4-2, 0-0 ACC) @ Notre Dame (3-4, 0-1 ACC)
6 PM ET, ACC Network

Pick: Virginia

Seton Hall (6-4, 3-1 Big East) @ Xavier (8-1, 1-1 Big East)
7 PM ET, FS1

Pick: Xavier

Richmond (6-2, 0-0 A 10) @ Davidson (5-3, 1-0 A 10)
7 PM ET, CBSSN

Pick: Richmond

Arkansas (8-0, 0-0 SEC) @ Auburn (6-2, 0-0 SEC)
7 PM ET, ESPN2

Pick: Arkansas

North Carolina (5-3, 0-1 ACC) @ Georgia Tech (4-3, 0-1 ACC)
8 PM ET, ESPN3/RSN

Pick: North Carolina

Penn State (3-3, 0-2 Big Ten) @ Indiana (5-4, 0-2 Big Ten)
8:30 PM ET, BTN

Pick: Indiana

#7 Tennessee (6-0, 0-0 SEC) @ #12 Missouri (6-0, 0-0 SEC)
9 PM ET, SEC Network

Pick: Tennessee

Thursday, December 31st – Picks from 12/31-1/3 will update after the results of the week’s early games

#21 Minnesota (8-1, 1-1 Big Ten) @ #6 Wisconsin (8-1, 2-0 Big Ten)
4:30 PM ET, BTN

#16 Michigan (7-0, 2-0 Big Ten) @ Maryland (5-3, 0-2 Big Ten)
7 PM ET, ESPN2

Utah (4-1, 1-0 Pac-12) @ UCLA (5-2, 1-0 Pac-12)
7 PM ET, FS1

Colorado (6-1, 0-0 Pac-12) @ USC (4-1, 0-0 Pac-12)
9 PM ET, ESPN2

Friday, January 1st

No featured games for this day

Saturday, January 2nd

#8 Texas (7-1, 1-0 Big 12) @ #3 Kansas (8-1, 2-0 Big 12)
12 PM ET, ESPN2

#11 Creighton (7-2, 3-1 Big East) @ Providence (6-3, 2-1 Big East)
12 PM ET, FOX

#12 Missouri (6-0, 0-0 SEC) @ Arkansas (8-0, 0-0 SEC)
12 PM ET, CBS

#10 Iowa (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten) @ #14 Rutgers (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten)
2 PM ET, ESPN2

Clemson (6-1, 0-1 ACC) @ Miami (4-2, 0-1 ACC)
2 PM ET, ESPN3/RSN

LSU (5-1, 0-0 SEC) @ Florida (3-1, 0-0 SEC)
2 PM ET, CBS

#9 West Virginia (7-2, 1-1 Big 12) @ Oklahoma (5-2, 1-1 Big 12)
4 PM ET, ESPN2

Oklahoma State (6-2, 0-2 Big 12) @ #13 Texas Tech (7-2, 1-1 Big 12)
4 PM ET, ESPN+

#24 Virginia Tech (7-1, 1-0 ACC) @ #23 Virginia (4-2, 0-0 ACC)
4 PM ET, ACC Network

Utah (4-1, 1-0 Pac-12) @ USC (4-1, 0-0 Pac-12)
4 PM ET, Pac-12 Network

Alabama (5-3, 0-0 SEC) @ #7 Tennessee (6-0, 0-0 SEC)
6 PM ET, ESPN2

Purdue (7-3, 2-1 Big Ten) @ #15 Illinois (7-3, 3-1 Big Ten)
6 PM ET, BTN

Kentucky (1-6, 0-0 SEC) @ Mississippi State (5-3, 0-0 SEC)
6 PM ET, SEC Network

#20 Duke (3-2, 1-0 ACC) @ #18 Florida State (5-1, 1-0 ACC)
8 PM ET, ESPN2

Colorado (6-1, 0-0 Pac-12) @ UCLA (5-2, 1-0 Pac-12)
8 PM ET, Pac-12 Network

Stanford (5-2, 1-0 Pac-12) @ #21 Oregon (6-1, 1-0 Pac-12)
10 PM ET, TBD

Sunday, January 3rd

#6 Wisconsin (8-1, 2-0 Big Ten) @ Penn State (3-3, 0-2 Big Ten)
12 PM ET, BTN

#25 Ohio State (7-2, 1-2 Big Ten) @ #21 Minnesota (8-1, 1-1 Big Ten)
5:30 PM ET, BTN

#5 Houston (7-0, 2-0 AAC) @ SMU (5-0, 1-0 AAC)
7 PM ET, ESPN2

#19 Northwestern (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten) @ #16 Michigan (7-0, 2-0 Big Ten)
7:30 PM ET, BTN

December 28, 2020

College Football Conference Championship Picks – Week 16

All projected scores are based on 1,000 simulations of each game in the CSD Prime computer model

2020 Prediction Stats

Straight Up: 389-131 (75%)
ATS Best Bets: 44-41-2 (52%)
ATS Total: 239-240-41 (50%)

Best Bets

#13 USC (-3) vs Oregon – 8 PM ET, Fri, Fox
Washington State (+10.5) @ Utah – 1:30 PM ET, FS1
Missouri (-1) @ Mississippi State – 3:30 PM ET, SEC Network Alternate

Friday, December 18th

UAB (5-3, 3-1 C-USA) @ Marshall (7-1, 4-1 C-USA)
Conference USA Championship
7 PM ET, CBSSN
Vegas Line: Marshall -6

CSD Pick: Marshall 27, UAB 21

Ball State (5-1 MAC) vs Buffalo (5-0 MAC) in Detroit, MI
MAC Championship
7:30 PM ET, ESPN
Vegas Line: Buffalo -12

CSD Pick: Buffalo 43, Ball State 30

Nebraska (2-5 Big Ten) @ Rutgers (3-5 Big Ten)
7:30 PM ET, BTN
Vegas Line: Nebraska -6

CSD Pick: Nebraska 23, Rutgers 22

Oregon (3-2, 3-2 Pac-12) @ #13 USC (5-0, 5-0 Pac-12)

Pac-12 Championship
8 PM ET, FOX
Vegas Line: USC -3

If there’s one thing to be sure of in college football’s conference championship week, its that the Pac-12 Championship will be a fun game. Oregon’s last three contests have been decided by an average of three points, and USC has needed a late game comeback to win in over half of their games this year. As for the winner, USC is at home here, and the Trojans are the better team. Kedon Slovis is heating up at the QB spot, and I don’t trust Oregon’s incredibly turnover-prone offense. Give me USC, and the Trojans should cover the three points.

CSD Pick: USC 33, Oregon 26

☆Crazy Sports Dude Best Bet Alert☆ – USC -3

Saturday, December 19th

#14 Northwestern (6-1 Big Ten) vs #4 Ohio State (5-0 Big Ten) in Indianapolis, IN

Big Ten Championship
12 PM ET, FOX
Vegas Line: Ohio State -20.5

A Northwestern win over Ohio State would blow the college football playoff race wide open, and while I would love to see it, the result just doesn’t seem feasible. Ohio State is one of the most talented teams in the country, and they will be playing angry here after last week’s game against Michigan was canceled. The last time we saw the Buckeyes play, they played their best game of the season, and I’d expect a similar result here.

CSD Pick: Ohio State 38, Northwestern 21

#5 Texas A&M (7-1 SEC) @ Tennessee (3-6 SEC)

12 PM ET, ESPN
Vegas Line: Texas A&M -12.5

Texas A&M has a great chance to make the playoff with a Clemson or Ohio State loss, but the Aggies need to get through Tennessee first. I think they’ll do it, but an upset isn’t out of the question. Tennessee is still a talented team, and they are at home, but A&M just has so much more to play for.

CSD Pick: Texas A&M 34, Tennessee 18

#10 Oklahoma (7-2, 6-2 Big Ten) vs #6 Iowa State (8-2, 8-1 Big 12) in Arlington, TX

Big 12 Championship
12 PM ET, ABC
Vegas Line: Oklahoma -4.5

Ok, the Big 12 champ has a shot now. If a spot opens up in the playoff, will the committee put Alabama up against a Texas A&M team it already blew out on the road, or the Big 12 champion? I tend to think the latter isn’t an absurd option, and a Texas A&M loss would almost certainly put the winner of this one front in line.

Now, that task is a lot easier for Iowa State, as the Cyclones would only have to move up two spots to make the top four, but it isn’t out of the question for Lincoln Riley’s Oklahoma Sooners either. OU is firing on all cylinders right now. Spencer Rattler is improving, and the defense is the best that Oklahoma has had in years. I’ll take OU.

CSD Pick: Oklahoma 35, Iowa State 30

~~Florida State (3-6, 2-6 ACC) @ Wake Forest (4-4, 3-4 ACC)~~ – CANCELED
12 PM ET, ACC Network
Vegas Line: Wake Forest -9.5

~~CSD Pick: Wake Forest 33, Florida State 29~~

Washington State (1-2, 1-2 Pac-12) @ Utah (2-2, 2-2 Pac-12)
1:30 PM ET, FS1
Vegas Line: Utah -10.5

In the Pac-12, it seems like every team is of roughly similar quality, so I’ll take Washington State getting 10.5. Oh yeah, also Utah’s hype is way overinflated after beating an undefeated Colorado team that was not truly top-25 quality.

CSD Pick: Utah 30, Washington State 25

☆Crazy Sports Dude Best Bet Alert☆ – Washington State +10.5

Air Force (3-2) @ Army (8-2)
3 PM ET, CBSSN
Vegas Line: Air Force -2.5

CSD Pick: Air Force 25, Army 20

#19 Louisiana (9-1, 7-1 Sun Belt) @ #12 Coastal Carolina (11-0, 8-0 Sun Belt) – CANCELED

Sun Belt Conference Championship
3:30 PM ET, ESPN
Vegas Line: Coastal Carolina -4.5

A Coastal Carolina win would give the Chants a great shot at a New Year’s Six bowl, and I think with Coastal’s home-field advantage and dangerous passing attack, the Chanticleers will squeak out a close one against the Ragin’ Cajuns. This will be a high-scoring, offensive battle, but I expect CCU to come out on top.

~~CSD Pick: Coastal Carolina 36, Louisiana 34~~

Missouri (5-4 SEC) @ Mississippi State (2-7 SEC)
3:30 PM ET, SEC Network Alternate
Vegas Line: Missouri -1

Missouri got killed last week by a rapidly improving Georgia team, but the Tigers are still a very good squad. They take on a Mississippi State team that has one of the worst offenses in the country here, and should pick up the win to close out a successful year one for Eli Drinkwitz.

CSD Pick: Missouri 29, Mississippi State 19

☆Crazy Sports Dude Best Bet Alert☆ – Missouri -1

Ole Miss (4-4 SEC) @ LSU (4-5 SEC)
3:30 PM ET, SEC Network
Vegas Line: LSU -2

CSD Pick: LSU 40, Ole Miss 37

#3 Clemson (9-1, 8-1 ACC) vs #2 Notre Dame (10-0, 9-0 ACC) in Charlotte, NC

ACC Championship
4 PM ET, ABC
Vegas Line: Clemson -7.5

This is the biggest game of the year to date, as Clemson will be fighting for their playoff lives against Notre Dame. The Irish defeated Clemson 47-40 earlier this year, but that game was in South Bend, and Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence was unavailable. On a neutral field, and with Lawrence (and a few defensive stars) back for this one, I expect Clemson to win a close, exciting game, potentially setting up a round three in the College Football Playoff.

CSD Pick: Clemson 35, Notre Dame 30

Minnesota (3-3 Big Ten) @ Wisconsin (2-3 Big Ten)

4 PM ET, BTN
Vegas Line: Wisconsin -11.5

The Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe will have much lower stakes than I expected coming into the season, but this should be a fun game between two teams that fell short of expectations but hope to end their year on a positive note. Wisconsin has the home edge and I think the Badgers are the better team, so I’ll side with them, but this will be a fun rivalry game to have on your third screen during the ACC title game.

CSD Pick: Wisconsin 28, Minnesota 18

Boise State (5-1, 5-0 MW) vs #24 San Jose State (6-0, 6-0 MW) in Las Vegas, NV
Mountain West Championship
4:30 PM ET, FOX
Vegas Line: Boise State -9

CSD Pick: Boise State 27, San Jose State 25

Illinois (2-5 Big Ten) @ Penn State (3-5 Big Ten)
5:30 PM ET, FS1
Vegas Line: Penn State -14.5

CSD Pick: Penn State 35, Illinois 17

Stanford (3-2, 3-2 Pac-12) @ UCLA (3-3, 3-3 Pac-12)
7 PM ET, ESPN
Vegas Line: UCLA -7

CSD Pick: UCLA 27, Stanford 25\

#1 Alabama (10-0 SEC) vs #7 Florida (8-2 SEC) in Atlanta, GA

SEC Championship
8 PM ET, CBS
Vegas Line: Alabama -14

Alabama and Florida will square off Saturday night in what will likely be one of the highest-scoring SEC Championship Games in history. As for the winner, you almost don’t need to know the teams. The proof is in the pudding, the West champion has beaten the East champion in 10 of the last 11 SEC title games, and to add to that Florida hasn’t won the crown since 2008 when Tim Tebow was their quarterback. This Alabama team is up there with the best Nick Saban teams ever, and I expect them to control this game from start to finish en route to a two touchdown victory.

CSD Pick: Alabama 49, Florida 35

#23 Tulsa (6-1, 6-0 AAC) @ #9 Cincinnati (8-0, 6-0 AAC)

American Athletic Conference Championship
8 PM ET, ABC
Vegas Line: Cincinnati -13

It is hard to get motivated to write about Cincinnati. I said in the preseason that the Bearcats had a great shot of being the first G5 team to make the College Football Playoff. They’ve won all of their games, seven of the eight by two touchdowns or more, with an average margin of victory of 26. And yet, they still have no hope of making the playoff. Even if the playoff expanded to eight teams suddenly they still would have little chance. As for the game this Saturday, the Bearcats should roll yet again, with Desmond Ridder and the talented, efficient offense leading the charge. I don’t expect it to matter to the selection committee.

CSD Pick: Cincinnati 34, Tulsa 21

Arizona State (1-2, 1-2 Pac-12) @ Oregon State (2-4, 2-4 Pac-12)
10:30 PM ET, ESPN
Vegas Line: Arizona State -7

CSD Pick: Arizona State 33, Oregon State 27

December 17, 2020

College Basketball Picks Week 4 – Gonzaga vs Iowa

Monday, December 14th

#19 Rutgers (4-0) @ Maryland (4-1)
6 PM ET, BTN

Pick: Maryland

Marquette (4-2) @ #9 Creighton (4-1)
9 PM ET, FS1

Pick: Creighton

Tuesday, December 15th

#24 Clemson (5-0) @ Virginia Tech (4-1)
6:30 PM ET, ACC Network

Pick: Clemson

Minnesota (6-0) @ #13 Illinois (4-2)
7 PM ET, ESPN2

Pick: Illinois

Loyola Chicago (3-0) @ #12 Wisconsin (4-1)
8 PM ET, BTN

Pick: Wisconsin

Furman (5-1) @ Alabama (3-2)
9 PM ET, SEC Network

Pick: Alabama

Wednesday, December 16th

Butler (1-0, 0-0 Big East) @ #7 Villanova (5-1, 1-0 Big East)
7 PM ET, FS1

Pick: Villanova

#20 Ohio State (5-0) @ Purdue (4-2)
7 PM ET, BTN

Pick: Purdue

#21 Duke (2-2) @ Notre Dame (2-2)
9 PM ET, ESPN

Pick: Duke

TCU (5-2) @ Oklahoma State (6-0)
9 PM ET, ESPN2

Pick: Oklahoma State

Thursday, December 17th

#5 Kansas (6-1) @ #14 Texas Tech (6-1)
7 PM ET, ESPN

Chris Beard’s Texas Tech Red Raiders have a claim to be the best defense in the country, but TTU runs into a Kansas team firing on all cylinders. The Jayhawks, led by freshman Jalen Wilson, have won six straight after dropping their opener to #1 Gonzaga, including a 73-72 win over Creighton last Tuesday. KU is a big, physical team that will also get up and down the floor and will play defense among the best in the nation. Expect Texas Tech to limit Kansas’ possessions, but the pure talent of the Jayhawks will win out at the end of the day.

Pick: Kansas

#9 Creighton (4-2, 0-1 Big East) @ St. John’s (5-3, 0-2 Big East)
7 PM ET, FS1

Pick: Creighton

NC State (3-0) @ Saint Louis (4-0)
8 PM ET, ESPN+

Pick: Saint Louis

Seton Hall (4-3, 1-0 Big East) @ Marquette (5-2, 1-0 Big East)
9 PM ET, FS1

Pick: Marquette

Friday, December 18th

Richmond (5-1) vs Loyola Chicago (3-1) in Indianapolis, IN
6 PM ET, ESPN+

Pick: Richmond

Saturday, December 19th

Butler (1-1) vs Indiana (4-2) in Indianapolis, IN
11:30 AM ET, FS1

Pick: Indiana

#3 Iowa (6-0) vs #1 Gonzaga (3-0) in Sioux Falls, SD
12 PM ET, CBS

Two of the very best teams in the country will square off in Sioux Falls in what will be yet another tough non-conference test for Gonzaga. The Bulldogs have already faced one of the toughest schedules in the nation, and that’s not to mention canceled games vs Tennessee and Baylor. Gonzaga is battle-tested to a degree that Iowa just isn’t yet, and I trust the bigs of Mark Few’s team to lead them to a victory.

Pick: Gonzaga

#23 Louisville (4-0) @ #12 Wisconsin (5-1)
12 PM ET, ESPN2

Going head-to-head with Gonzaga-Iowa will be another ranked vs ranked matchup, Louisville vs Wisconsin. I’m still not sold on Greg Gard’s Badgers. Wisconsin is tall, experienced, and poised, but I worry about their propensity to commit fouls and lack of disruption on the defensive end a. Meanwhile, they take on a Louisville team led by Carlik Jones that has one of the most talented offenses in the land. I’ll take the Cards to pull a huge road upset.

Pick: Louisville

#22 North Carolina (4-2) vs Kentucky (1-4) in Cleveland, OH
2 PM ET, CBS

Pick: North Carolina

Ole Miss (4-0) @ Dayton (3-1)
2:30 PM ET, NBCSN

Pick: Dayton

#20 Ohio State (5-1) vs UCLA (5-1) in Cleveland, OH
4:15 PM ET, CBS

I am not at all sold on Ohio State right now. The Buckeyes struggled with a bad Notre Dame team and then lost to Purdue in their only two games vs power conference opponents. Meanwhile, UCLA is staking their claim as perhaps the best team in the Pac-12 and is red-hot coming off of a win over Marquette. Give me the Bruins.

Pick: UCLA

Arizona (5-0) vs Stanford (3-2) in Santa Cruz, CA
8 PM ET, Pac-12 Network

Pick: Arizona

Sunday, December 20th

#9 Creighton (5-2, 1-1 Big East) @ UConn (3-0, 0-0 Big East)
12 PM ET, FS1

This is a historically important game, as the first contest for UConn back under the Big East banner. The Huskies haven’t played in over two weeks due to a COVID pause, which really worries me, additionally, they take on a Creighton team that has some of the best shooters in the country. I expect the Bluejays to give Dan Hurley a sour welcome to the conference.

Pick: Creighton

#13 Illinois (5-2, 1-0 Big Ten) @ #19 Rutgers (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten)
1 PM ET, ESPN2

They may have two losses, but I am still all in on this Illinois team, even on the road against a ranked foe. Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn remain one of the best 1-2 combos in the nation, and freshman Adam Miller has shone as well. The Illini are fresh off of a 92-65 throttling of Minnesota on Tuesday, and while this one should be closer, I expect the orange and blue to come out on top yet again.

Pick: Illinois

Marquette (5-3, 1-1 Big East) @ Xavier (7-0, 0-0 Big East)
2 PM ET, FS1

Pick: Xavier

Oklahoma State (6-1, 0-1 Big 12) @ #11 Texas (6-1, 0-0 Big 12)
2 PM ET, LHN

Pick: Texas

Providence (4-2, 0-0 Big East) @ Seton Hall (5-3, 2-0 Big East)
4:30 PM ET, FS1

Pick: Seton Hall

#4 Michigan State (6-0) @ Northwestern (3-1)
7 PM ET, BTN

Pick: Michigan State

Saint Louis (6-0) @ Minnesota (6-1)
8:30 PM ET, FS1

Pick: Saint Louis

December 14, 2020

College Football Playoff, New Year’s Six Bowl Projections Week 15 – UNC to the Orange Bowl

GoodYear Cotton Bowl Classic

December 30th, 7:15 PM ET, ESPN
Arlington, TX
At-Large vs. At-Large
Bowl Projection: Oklahoma vs Georgia

These will likely be the two highest-ranked two-loss teams in the country, and they’ll match up nicely as two teams that came into the season with playoff expectations but fell short. The winner of this will have huge expectations for 2021, with both potentially getting their star QBs back.

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

January 1st, 12:30 PM ET, ESPN
Atlanta, GA
At-Large vs. At-Large
Bowl Projection: Florida vs Cincinnati

Cincinnati, which looks poised to finish the season unbeaten, will get a nice consolation prize as they take on the SEC runner-ups in the Peach Bowl. The Bearcats could still get into the playoff with losses by Florida, Clemson, and Texas A&M, but the last of that list seems like an ultimate longshot.

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl

January 2nd, 4 PM ET, ESPN
Glendale, AZ
At-Large vs. At-Large
Bowl Projection: Indiana vs. USC

USC doesn’t have a shot to make the playoff, but the Trojans look to be in good shape for a New Year’s Six bowl. Indiana also seems to be in good position, sitting in the top 12 at time of writing.

Capital One Orange Bowl

January 2nd, 8 PM ET, ESPN
Miami Gardens, FL
ACC vs. Big Ten or SEC
Bowl Projection: North Carolina vs. Texas A&M

This is the only NY6 game this year with tie-ins, as an ACC team must face a team from the Big Ten or SEC. If both ACC title game participants make it to the Playoff, UNC will slide in here, and I expect Texas A&M to be the highest-ranked SEC team outside of Alabama, and the team that will slide into the playoff should Ohio State or Clemson lose.

Rose Bowl (Semifinal)

January 1st, 5 PM ET, ESPN
Pasadena, CA
CFP vs. CFP
Bowl Projection: Ohio State vs. Clemson

It is simple for these two teams. Win and you’re in, lose and you are almost certainly out, not much more to it.

Allstate Sugar Bowl (Semifinal)

January 1st, 8:45 PM ET, ESPN
New Orleans, LA
CFP vs. CFP
Projection: Alabama vs. Notre Dame

Both of these teams are essentially locked into the playoff even were they to lose their conference title games.

College Football Playoff National Championship

January 11th, 8 PM ET, ESPN
Miami Gardens, FL
Projection: Ohio State vs. Alabama
Pick: Alabama

December 14, 2020

Category: EVERYTHING

Seed List

Bubble Watch

Bids By Conference

Monday, December 28th

Tuesday, December 29th

Wednesday, December 30th

Thursday, December 31st – Picks from 12/31-1/3 will update after the results of the week’s early games

Friday, January 1st

Saturday, January 2nd

Sunday, January 3rd

2020 Prediction Stats

Best Bets

Friday, December 18th

Oregon (3-2, 3-2 Pac-12) @ #13 USC (5-0, 5-0 Pac-12)

Saturday, December 19th

#14 Northwestern (6-1 Big Ten) vs #4 Ohio State (5-0 Big Ten) in Indianapolis, IN

#5 Texas A&M (7-1 SEC) @ Tennessee (3-6 SEC)

#10 Oklahoma (7-2, 6-2 Big Ten) vs #6 Iowa State (8-2, 8-1 Big 12) in Arlington, TX

#19 Louisiana (9-1, 7-1 Sun Belt) @ #12 Coastal Carolina (11-0, 8-0 Sun Belt) – CANCELED

#3 Clemson (9-1, 8-1 ACC) vs #2 Notre Dame (10-0, 9-0 ACC) in Charlotte, NC

Minnesota (3-3 Big Ten) @ Wisconsin (2-3 Big Ten)

#1 Alabama (10-0 SEC) vs #7 Florida (8-2 SEC) in Atlanta, GA

#23 Tulsa (6-1, 6-0 AAC) @ #9 Cincinnati (8-0, 6-0 AAC)

Monday, December 14th

Tuesday, December 15th

Wednesday, December 16th

Thursday, December 17th

Friday, December 18th

Saturday, December 19th

Sunday, December 20th

GoodYear Cotton Bowl Classic

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl

Capital One Orange Bowl

Rose Bowl (Semifinal)

Allstate Sugar Bowl (Semifinal)

College Football Playoff National Championship