The Michigan Wolverines will look to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16 when they take on the Louisville Cardinals as a slim underdog on Sunday afternoon. Michigan narrowly escaped the first round, defeating Oklahoma State 92-91, continuing a streak that’s now up to six straight wins. Louisville, on the other hand, has rotated wins and losses over its last six matchups, failing to win back-to-back games in over a month.
The Cardinals did have a much more convincing win than Michigan in the first round, destroying the 15th-seeded Jacksonville State Gamecocks 78-63. The lopsided win margin still wasn’t enough to cover the 18.5-point spread, which marked a fourth straight ATS loss for Louisville as the favorite. Contrary to that and with the small spread in mind, Rick Pitino and company have been a successful outright wager as the betting favorite this season, posting a 21-4 SU record. And, just to complicate things a bit more, Michigan has won three of its last four games as an underdog of three points or less.
Perhaps the smart wager in this one is to bet the total and take the OVER. Both teams have been topping totals at a high rate with the Cardinals going OVER in nine of their last 11, and the Wolverines going OVER in eight of their last 10.
Michigan Wolverines vs Louisville Cardinals Matchup
Team Betting Records & Power Rankings
The Louisville Cardinals sport a record of 25-8 and 18-13 ATS heading into this betting matchup, while the Michigan Wolverines have 25-11 and 16-17 ATS marks on the season. The OVER/UNDER records are 16-15 for the Louisville Cardinals and 20-11-2 for the Michigan Wolverines.
This game puts the Louisville Cardinals, most recently No. 97 in the Odds Shark power rankings, up against the Michigan Wolverines, who rate No. 13 in the latest survey.
Statistical Matchup
Offensively, the game matches up Louisville's No. 68 nationally ranked offense (77.55 points per game) against a Michigan Wolverines defense that sits as the No. 36 at 66.25 PPG. The Louisville Cardinals have been averaging 45.65% from the field, less than the Wolverines have managed so far this season (48.39% on average).
Recent Outings Betting Recap
Michigan got 26 points and 11 assists from Derrick Walton Jr. en route to a 92-91 victory over Oklahoma State on Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Louisville got 18 points from Mangok Mathiang en route to a 78-63 victory over Jacksonville State on Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.