Monday was a great primer for the loaded slate on Tuesday.  I will get to the loaded Tuesday slate in a minute, but let’s recap Monday first.  Purdue is finally on the board after a late 20-1 run to beat Illinois State. The score looks a lot more lopsided than that game was.  Indiana beat Syracuse.  Syracuse looks much improved under coach McNamara.  Seton Hall beat Charlotte in an ugly game, but that was to be expected with those two teams.

The game of the night went to Minnesota and Cincinnati.  The Bearcats missed the front end of a one-and-one with 6 seconds left, and then Minnesota hit a buzzer-beating three to get a huge win in year two under Niko Medved.  Washington beat Mississippi Valley State in a game where the Huskies took 50 threes.  That is not a recipe for success in the Big Ten, but wins are wins.

Welcome to the Tuesday slate of games, and it is going to be the best day of the year so far.  Multiple top-25 teams are playing each other, with the Champions Classic as the headliner.  The record through 9 days is 293-61.  Picks for Day 10, November 10, 2026 are below.

Florida over Florida State

Rutgers over NJIT

Georgetown over Delaware State

Duke over Michigan State

Duquesne over Washington State

Davidson over Bradley

Kennesaw State over Winthrop

Villanova over La Salle

UCF over South Alabama

Georgia Southern over Mercer

Iowa over Virginia Tech

Harvard over Northeastern

Georgia Tech over Eastern Kentucky

Rhode Island over Maine

NC State over Presbyterian

LMU over Troy

North Carolina over Wyoming

New Haven over Army

George Washington over Elon

Fordham over Iona

Dayton over Siena

Central Michigan over Youngstown State

Wake Forest over Charleston Southern

Boston College over Eastern Shore

Xavier over Detroit Mercy

Providence over Bryant

Vanderbilt over Memphis

MTSU over Evansville

Texas State over UTRGV

Tulane over Nicholls

Illinois over Texas Tech

Northern Iowa over Green Bay

Arkansas State over UT Martin

Murray State over Alcorn State

South Dakota over Houston Christian

Belmont over Lipscomb

SMU over Prairie View

Saint Louis over Northern Kentucky

Iowa State over Southern

Baylor over Yale

Wisconsin over Fairfield

Ole Miss over Southeastern Louisiana

Virginia over Bucknell

Arizona over Northern Arizona

BYU over Queens

Fresno State over Georgia State

Utah State over Utah Tech

New Mexico over Little Rock

Arizona State over Hofstra

Utah over Weber State

TCU over UL Monroe

Colorado over San Diego

Creighton over Kansas State

Kansas over Kentucky

San Francisco over Montana

The Champions Classic highlights the day, and it’s not hard to see why.  The early game pits Duke, my current No. 1 team, against Michigan State.  Jeremy Fears Jr. and Coen Carr against Joaquim Boumtje and Patrick Ngonba.  A game in the second week of the season that will be Final Four-level good.  Fears is elite at drawing fouls; can he get the Duke bigs in foul trouble and steal a win?

The late game in the Champions Classic features Kansas and Kentucky.  Kansas is older and has the top-ranked player in the 2026 class, Tyran Stokes.  However, the Jayhawks will be without one of their stars for the foreseeable future, as Melvin Council broke his foot.  Kentucky has talent but is not coached all that well.  Give me Kansas over Kentucky, and that game could get ugly.

College Basketball scheduling is weird, and tomorrow night is no exception, as Illinois and Texas Tech play each other at the same time the Champions Classic is happening.  Illinois is one of the best teams in the country and has the makings of one of the best teams ever.  Texas Tech is loaded but is without JT Toppin, as he is still recovering from offseason surgery.  If the Red Raiders had their star, I would feel differently about this game; as it stands, Illinois wins the game going away.  Enjoy the hoops.