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Monday, December 23, 2024
The first two NCAA Tournament bids went out after dramatic finishes in championship games to set the stage. Plus a long day of tournaments ends with a thrilling back-and-forth between two star guards, a surprise champion in the ACC and a three-way tie atop the Big East.
After higher seeds routinely won the first couple of days, the Missouri Valley Conference highlighted a day where several lower seeds won. Plus one more regular season title has been clinched, a blueblood disagrees with some allegations levied against them, and the show will go on for one school next week.
In a must-win game that was a big opportunity for the home team, Maryland rallied and then ripped their hearts out of them. Plus the leaders win in the Southern, a key guard comes back in a good win in the SEC, and a long show-cause will be one to keep in mind later on.
The Ivy League is looking a little different than expected, with only one of the top three preseason picks among the top three at the midway point. Plus the leaders win in a couple of other mid-major leagues, the MAAC continues to be a tight race, and one MAAC coach will be sticking around a little longer.
One conference had three games on the day that had various levels of surprise to end a weekend that had a lot of it there. Plus another surprise in the Big East, one team got a win they needed while another rallied to avoid a bad loss in the Big Ten, and an in-state rivalry closes out an early day.
The team right behind Dayton in the Atlantic 10 is the Rams, as predicted, but not the Rams that were predicted to be there. Plus Ivy League play begins in earnest with a couple of streaks snapped in one game, a couple of league leaders win, and a Tar Heel may be set to return.
In a season where even the best teams are very capable of losing games to teams they shouldn’t, one team almost did twice and then won a tournament in impressive fashion. Plus a tournament runner-up is without a few players, a few helpers were handed out without scoring, and a few other results as the tournaments finish up.
Michigan got the first big win under its new head coach, and now has a chance for another one right behind it. Plus the Orlando Invitational gets going, lots of drama in a tournament out west, and a cool story coming out of the big upset in Durham a couple of nights earlier.
On a day where tournament action slowed temporarily, a game outside of tournaments was as good as advertised featuring a young but very talented team. Plus the other results of the day include a couple of monster individual efforts and a big road win for an Ivy League team.
Opening night was as good as advertised, led by the big doubleheader in New York where the nightcap belonged to one freshman in particular. Plus a few road wins lead some close ones, a couple of mild surprises, and some major league blowouts with non-Division I schools.
