12-1-19 College Basketball Games to Watch
Headliner Games
#5 Maryland (-2 ½) vs. Marquette (Orlando Invitational-Championship Game; Lake Buena Vista, FL) at 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Wake Forest vs. #14 Arizona (-11) (Wooden Legacy-Championship Game; Fullerton, CA) at 9 p.m. (ESPN)
No ranked vs. ranked games today but we get a couple of nice games in the championships of the Wooden Legacy and the Orlando Invitational. Can Markus Howard have another big game to help Marquette upset the #5 Terps? He scored 40 against Davidson and 51 against USC. Maryland is deeper and more balanced but Marquette can hang with anyone when Howard is on fire. I think the Terps win a good game. Zona barely got by Pepperdine in the first game of their tournament, but has a lot more talent than Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons are a surprise to be in the title game; they probably need Brandon Childress to have a really good game to hang with Zona. I think the Wildcats win going away.
Upset Watch Games
Rhode Island at West Virginia (-10 ½) at 2 p.m. (AT&T SN)
LaSalle at #22 Villanova (-17 ½) at 6:30 p.m. (FS1)
Nebraska Omaha at St. Mary’s (-15 ½) at 8 p.m. (WCC Network)
In a season where big upsets have been pretty frequent already, these seem like real possibilities. St. Mary’s got a big win against Utah State; this could be a let-down game for them. LaSalle is coming off an early season tourney win, and could cause Nova problems. Rhody is pretty decent and they will try to take down undefeated West Virginia, who just got back from winning their tournament in Cancun.
Other Games to Watch
George Washington at S. Carolina (-13) at 2 p.m. (SECN+)
Vermont at Yale (-1 ½) at 3 p.m. (ESPN+) $$
Davidson vs. Temple (-2 ½) (Orlando Invitational-Fifth Place Game; Lake Buena Vista, FL) at 4 p.m. (ESPN2)
USC (-1 ½) vs. Harvard (Orlando Invitational-Third Place Game; Lake Buena Vista, FL) at 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Pepperdine vs. Providence (-6 ½) (Wooden Legacy-Seventh Place Game; Fullerton, CA) at 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
St. Bonaventure (-2 ½) vs. San Diego (Boca Raton Beach Classic-Hall of Fame Bracket; Boca Raton, FL) at 9 p.m. (CUSA.tv)
Vegas thinks most of these games will be fairly close; so do I. Enjoy!
