Six of the eight schools yet to win in the conference played on Saturday, but only Dartmouth (Ivy League) could win. The Big Green earned their first victory in the conference by winning at Columbia, 78-68.

Ten Division 1 schools remained undefeated in conference play entering Saturday’s action and all but George Washington (playing today) were in action. Of the nine, SIX won and THREE lost.
The winners were Bucknell, Duke, Gonzaga, Memphis, Penn and West Va. The losers were Delaware St, LSU and Northern Arizona.

My bye game for Sunday is Seton Hall over Rutgers in college hoops at 12:00 ET. Coming off a 2-1 day at BKB, I have now gone 5-2 71.4% since a bad Wednesday. On Sunday I will present a solitaire game from CBB, one of my long-awaited 15* games. My Super Bowl XL pick is rated 22*, the highest star rating I give. It represents my twenty-second year in business. Be sure to check back at 10:00 ET as I may be adding a late play from BKB.

While three unbeatens in the conference fell on Saturday, four more battled to win. No. 2 Duke outscored Florida State in overtime (97-96) in a game that featured 26 ties and 17 lead changes. No.3 Memphis won its 10th straight game, winning 84-79 at Rice. The 8-11 Owls gave the Tigers all they could handle. No. 11 West Va struggled early on but eventually eliminated Cincinnati, 66-57 with Bucknell trailing by eight at the half, before winning 68-59 at Colgate. The Bison shot 67 percent in the second half and made 16 of 19 free throws.

Three conference undefeated lost on Saturday. LSU lost Alabama 67-62, Delaware St of the MEAC lost to a team from South Carolina St 7-13 63-51 and Northern Arizona of the Big Sky lost 73-61 to a team from Eastern Washington 10-12.

Illinois saw its 33-game home winning streak end last night, when Ron McBride’s potential game-winning shot at the buzzer was ruled to have been thrown after the clock struck 0:00. Penn State, which had lost 18 straight games to ranked opponents, beat No. 6 Illinois, 66-65, as a 19 1/2-point underdog! Earlier this week, Creighton snapped his 33-fight win streak at home in southern Illinois.

It wasn’t all bad news this week for the 33-club, however, as Gonzaga had little trouble last night with Santa Clara in Spokane. The Bulldogs led the Broncos by 25 points midway through the second half and tied a school record by winning their 34th straight game at home, 85-71. However, the win was of little consolation to Gonzaga oddsmakers, as the Bulldogs were 18-point favorites.

There are 11 games scheduled at the college hoops on Super Bowl Sunday. CBS televisions No. 19 Oklahoma in Kansas. Oklahoma has won five straight but has lost its last seven games in Lawrence. The Jayhawks are a young team, but they appear to be on the mend, having won four straight and 11 of their last 13. Kansas is a six-point favorite with a total of 135. Although not nationally televised, four other teams top 25 are in action on Sunday.

No. 9 Pittsburgh is at No. 17 Georgetown at 12:00 ET, No. 10 George Washington hosts Richmond also at 12:00 ET, and No. 18 North Carolina St hosts Maryland at 2:00. 00 ET Georgetown (on a five-game winning streak) is favored by 3 1/2 points with a total of 128. Pitt, who won his first 15 games this year, is 2-2 in the last four, including an 80- 76. loss at No. 1 U Conn last Monday. While the Hoyas are the favorites, they have lost five straight to the Panthers.

No. 10 George Washington puts his perfect 7-0 Atlantic-10 mark on the line today, as well as his first top-10 ranking in half a century (he was ranked No. 7 in 1956!), as the Colonials they host year 11-9 team from Richmond. GW is favored by 16 points with a total of 127.

No. 18 North Carolina St, 13-1 at home, will host Maryland, a team that lost its leading scorer (Chris McCray) to academic suspension three games ago. The Terps have lost two straight, as Maryland head coach Gary Williams remains tied for his career wins of 348 at his alma mater with former Maryland coach Lefty Driesell. The Wolfpack are favored by seven points with a total of 152.

Vince Carter recorded the second triple-double of his career on Saturday (28-13-10), when the Nets won their 10th straight game at home, beating the Heat 105-92. The Pistons hardly looked like the best team in the league last night in Indiana, as the Pacers defeated them 93-85.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks won their 11th straight game over the Sonics 110-91, matching the longest winning streak in the NBA this season. The Mavs, not known as a defensive team, have held all 11 of their opponents under 100 points during the streak, a franchise record.

Super Bowl Sunday features a light 3-game schedule in the NBA. ABC has Houston on the New York Knicks at 12:05 ET. The Rockets have Ming and McGrady back (11-6 with both in the lineup this year), but the Knicks are expected to be without Marbury. Jalen Rose makes his Knicks debut, but there’s no early lineup in the game.

The Kings get a quick rematch with the Jazz today after Sacramento lost 89-79 on Friday night at Utah. The amazing stat from that game was, Sacramento was 0 for 20 on FG attempts in the 4th quarter! Utah outscored Sacramento 34-12 in the fourth. Today’s game, kicking off at 12:30 ET, has no early lineup as the ever lovable Ron Artest is in doubt with a hip injury.

Super Bowl XL is scheduled to start at 6:30 ET. The Steelers are favored by four points with a total of around 47. Good luck in the game. That is, if you have my side!

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