A new year brings with it big games, including a non-conference tilt between two of the best, and an SEC opener that could determine a lot come March.
The end of December serves as a great time of celebration as family members from afar get together to celebrate the holidays. There is great food, great joy, and great memories. What there isn’t is a lot of basketball.
Thankfully, the new year brings us some games at last, including the openers of ACC and SEC play. 14 Top 25 teams in all will be playing today and the big game of the day will pit two of them against each other in a huge non-conference tilt; #1 UConn at #8 Baylor. In addition to that one, some of the games that pop out in a wide-open SEC are #23 South Carolina at #21 Texas A&M and #10 Tennessee at Auburn.
The UConn-Baylor game is going to tell us a lot about both teams. Baylor has had to grind out wins over Arizona State and South Dakota State, two teams they are clearly superior in talent against, while UConn narrowly avoided losses to St. John’s and Oklahoma. Both teams will surely be in the mix come late March, but they both have proven to be beatable. Someone has to lose today and… well, we will get into that on the next page.
My picks on the last Money Line got us to .500 (15-14 on the year) so I’m hopeful that upward trend will continue. All lines are taken from 5 Dimes per usual. As always, you’re encouraged to tell me what you agree or disagree with here or on my Twitter @BlakeDuDonis. Now, let’s get to the picking and enjoy the great day of games ahead of us!