It’s Thanksgiving week, and in college basketball, that means there is plenty of action on which to feast your fandom on. That is doubly the case Tuesday, with a jam-packed slate in the Players Era Festival as it takes center stage from Las Vegas. On the docket we have eight ranked teams in action from Sin City in games stretching from early afternoon to late at night. This is a ham and turkey-level spread with green bean casserole and stuffing. You should prepare accordingly.
The slate gets started with a matinee matchup on TNT between Rutgers and Notre Dame at 1 p.m. ET from MGM Grand Garden Arena before — prepare your second screen! — a 2 p.m. ET tip from Michelob Ultra Arena down the street between No. 15 Iowa State and Creighton.
But wait: there’s more! There are four more games on the schedule Tuesday after that first wave, culminating with an 11 p.m. ET tip between Oregon and San Diego State.
To celebrate the basketball bonanza I’ve convened our experts to make picks for every game from Vegas both straight up and against the spread. Those picks are below.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook | All times ET
8:30 p.m. on TNT: Michigan put belt to booty Monday in a 94-54 win over San Diego State. And yet … that was just the second-largest final margin of victory in a game this season for the Wolverines. For a team that made a habit of playing close ones last season, an encouraging sign.
Auburn showed out, too, beating a talented Oregon team by a final margin of 11 points. Tahaad Pettiford had 24 points and Keyshawn Hall had 18 — but more notable, Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad and Oregon big Nate Bittle were held to 19 total points on 2 of 15 shooting.
On paper these are two pretty evenly-matched teams playing very well. And, on paper, Michigan (the No. 2 defense in adjusted efficiency and the No. 5…
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