College basketball picks for 12/11-17: Predictions for every Top 25 game
Mid-December has always been a bit of a lull in the college basketball season. This stretch of the calendar usually falls during final exams for the fall semester, meaning a lot of schools schedule lightly to allow their student-athletes to concentrate on their classes, and the non-conference portion of the schedule is beginning to wrap up.
There was some merciful sanity in college basketball last week, leading to precious few changes in the AP Top 25 poll. That could change this weekend as a slew of huge matchups featuring Top 25 teams are set to tip off, including a showdown in Seattle between UCONN and Gonzaga as well as a huge Purdue-Arizona neutral site affair on Saturday.
Who will come out on top in those games as well as the other Top 25 matchups over the next seven days? Read on to find out, with projected winners listed in bold.
College Basketball Week 6 Top 25 Predictions
Monday, Dec. 11
Mississippi Valley State at No. 10 Gonzaga - 9:00 p.m. ET - ESPN+
Tuesday, Dec. 12
Georgia Southern at No. 12 Tennessee - 7:00 p.m. ET - SEC Network
Hofstra at No. 21 Duke - 7:00 p.m. ET - ESPN2
Wednesday, Dec. 13
Florida International at No. 15 Florida Atlantic - 7:00 p.m. ET - ESPN+
Chicago State at No. 25 Northwestern - 8:00 p.m. ET - Big Ten Network
Jack Jones Classic - No. 8 Creighton at UNLV - 9:00 p.m. ET - CBS Sports Network
Denver at No. 18 BYU - 9:00 p.m. ET - Big 12 Now/ESPN+
Thursday, Dec. 14
St. Thomas-Minnesota at No. 7 Marquette - 8:00 p.m. ET - FS1
Jacksonville State at No. 23 Wisconsin - 8:00 p.m. ET - Big Ten Network
Friday, Dec. 15
Continental Tire Seattle Tip-Off - No. 5 UConn vs. No. 10 Gonzaga - 10:00 p.m. ET - ESPN2/ESPN+
Saturday, Dec. 16
LSU at No. 19 Texas - 12:00 p.m. ET - ESPN2
La Salle at No. 24 Miami - 12:00 p.m. ET - CW Network
No. 2 Kansas at Indiana - 12:30 p.m. ET - CBS
No. 6 Baylor at Michigan State - 2:00 p.m. ET - FOX
Texas A&M at No. 4 Houston - 2:30 p.m. ET - ESPN2
No. 13 Clemson at Memphis - 3:00 p.m. ET - ESPN+
Basketball Hall of Fame Classic - No. 15 Florida Atlantic vs. St. Bonaventure - 4:00 p.m. ET - ESPNU
No. 20 James Madison at Hampton - 4:00 p.m. ET - FloHoops
Indy Classic - No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 3 Purdue - 4:30 p.m. ET - Peacock
CBS Sports Classic - No. 9 North Carolina vs. No. 14 Kentucky - 5:30 p.m. ET - CBS
No. 25 Northwestern at DePaul - 5:30 p.m. ET - FS1
Northeastern at No. 22 Virginia - 6:00 p.m. ET - ACC Network
Alabama at No. 8 Creighton - 8:00 p.m. ET - FOX
Green Bay at No. 11 Oklahoma - 9:00 p.m. ET - ESPN+
Georgia State at No. 18 BYU - 9:00 p.m. ET - Big 12 Now/ESPN+
Hall of Fame Series - San Antonio - NC State vs. No. 12 Tennessee - 10:00 p.m. ET - ESPN2
Sunday, Dec. 17
Colgate at No. 16 Illinois - 1:00 p.m. ET - Big Ten Network
CSU Pueblo at No. 17 Colorado State - 6:00 p.m. ET - Mountain West Network