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Sunday, December 22, 2024
Three more automatic bids went out on Sunday, two of them to repeat champions, to set the stage for the week ahead. Plus lower seeds rule in the Colonial, three teams share the regular season title in two conferences, and a coaching change comes out west on a day off from tournament action.
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.
A battle for second place was easily the best of the big TV games on the night, with the winning team getting a big boost from an emerging role player. Plus a mismatch in the Big 12, a clear leader in the Patriot League, and a Cyclone is done for the season and perhaps his college career.
At first, the results were concerning, but the bottom is falling out of a Pac-12 favorite’s season. Plus home teams win again in the Big Ten, a very tight race in one mid-major almost got even tighter, and a Buckeye will be out to deal with an important matter off the court.
Monday night brought a result no one ever saw coming back in different times for a program and its coach. Plus a new number one hangs on, a clock malfunction down south, and some sad news with a coaching legend.
Don’t look now, but Monday night might have some evidence that the Blue Demons are about to be relevant again. Plus a big win out west and a transfer will have to sit the year, which isn’t sitting well with a person close to him.
We conclude our look at our favorite games for every day of the season from November through February, our ultimate dream road trip through an entire college basketball season.
It can be argued rather easily that no two programs in college basketball have been so consistently good for the last 30 years while still being kept from making a Final Four appearance as Gonzaga and Xavier. In that regard, it’s only fitting that both will now square off on Saturday, with one guaranteed to make its first-ever national semifinals appearance.
With a light day, as well as a relative lack of questions about this year’s bracket, it allowed some time to let this year’s NCAA Tournament bracket marinate a bit. And here’s a thought: this year’s tourney has a lot of really good first round matchups.
There is heartbreak in West Long Branch once again, with more March dramatics. Plus three automatic bids go out, more semifinal action has finished, and coaching moves start in earnest.
