NCAA Tournament Odds: Notre Dame Favored Over Michigan In First Round
The No. 6 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish will look to overcome a checkered record down the stretch when they face the No. 11 seed Michigan Wolverines in Friday’s NCAA Tournament matchup as narrow 2 1/2-point betting favorites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Fighting Irish struggled in the final two weeks of the season, dropping three of five to finish with an 11-7 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference, good for a share of fifth place alongside Duke.
Notre Dame, though, did get past the Blue Devils 84-79 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals before getting blown out by North Carolina in the semifinals as seven-point underdogs.
It has been a busy week for the Wolverines, who earned a 67-62 win in their First Four clash with Tulsa on Wednesday.
Michigan has struggled with consistency, posting just six SU wins over its past 13 games, and has been a risky bet, taking a 7-11 against the spread record over its past 18 outings into Friday night’s Wolverines vs. Fighting Irish betting matchup at Barclays Center.
It has been 10 years since these two teams last met, with the Wolverines posting an 87-84 win as three-point chalk in their last matchup at the 2006 National Invitation Tournament, extending their current SU win streak over Notre Dame to three, and 4-1 SU in their past five.
In South Region action on Friday, the No. 4 California Golden Bears will be without leading scorer Tyrone Wallace when they hit the court against the No. 13 Hawaii Warriors as 4 1/2-point chalk at the sportsbooks.
Wallace led the Golden Bears this season with 15.3 points per game, and was a standout in California’s heartbreaking 82-78 overtime loss to Utah in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals, leading the way with 26 points.
California has won nine of 11 SU, according to the OddsShark College Basketball Database, but were just 2-3 SU this season without Wallace in the lineup.
The Warriors have won three straight and 11 of 13 SU, but are a dismal 2-5 ATS in their past seven, and were SU and ATS losers in two previous March Madness appearances, in 2001 and 2002.
In other March Madness betting action Friday, No. 2 Michigan State takes on No. 15 Middle Tennessee as 17 1/2-point chalk, and No. 7 Dayton is favored by a single point over No. 10 Syracuse in the Midwest, while No. 9 Cincinnati is a slim three-point favorite in its South Region matchup with No. 8 Saint Joseph’s.
Thumbnail photo via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
