Wolverines Will Try to Slam Door on Seminoles in Sweet 16 Showdown

The top-seeded Michigan Wolverines (22-4 SU, 18-8 ATS) will face their biggest challenge to date in the NCAA Tournament in Sunday’s East Region Sweet 16 matchup with the fourth-seeded Florida State Seminoles (18-6, 12-10-2). The Wolverines are small favorites at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark against the only No. 4 seed to make it past the first two rounds of the big dance. The Seminoles have gotten here in their last three appearances.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

Bettors should expect a tight game between these two schools, who last met in the Elite Eight of the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Michigan edged Florida State 58-54 in that meeting but did fall short of covering the spread as a 4.5-point favorite, with the total finishing way UNDER the closing number of 144.

The big difference that time around was the Seminoles entered as the No. 9 seed in the West while the Wolverines were No. 3 and ended up advancing all the way to the NCAA championship game.

Linemakers may have set both of this year’s numbers too high, with Michigan down to -3 and the total dropping as many as two points to 143.5 at some books. The question is, how low will they go?

Florida State News & Notes

Florida State has done just about everything but move on to the Final Four in its previous three appearances in the big dance between 2017 and 2019. Last year, the Seminoles were ranked in the top five nationally and earned the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament before COVID-19 canceled the rest of what could have been their best season ever.

After losing two players who were picked among the top 11 in the 2020 NBA Draft, head coach Leonard Hamilton has once again done a masterful job of preparing his team for another deep NCAA Tournament run. And here they are, possibly peaking at the right time vs an opponent they know well from 2018.

Granted, the Wolverines are now coached by Juwan Howard, who has different players as well. But this is still a revenge spot for Florida State and especially Hamilton after an impressive 71-53 rout of the fifth-seeded Colorado Buffaloes as 1-point favorites on Monday.

Michigan News & Notes

Michigan has somehow found a way to survive sans Isaiah Livers, who remains out with a foot injury and likely will not return no matter how far his team manages to go.

However, one of his replacements, Chaundee Brown, a senior transfer from the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, stepped up big time in Monday’s 86-78 win over the eighth-seeded LSU Tigers and helped the Wolverines cover the spread as 4.5-point favorites. Brown tied for the team lead with 21 points in 27 minutes off the bench while fellow senior Eli Brooks also had 21.

Livers last played against the Maryland Terrapins in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, and Michigan has gone 2-1 straight up (1-2 against the spread) without him. The loss came in the conference tourney semifinals to the Ohio State Buckeyes, who were stunned by the 15th-seeded Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in the first round as the No. 2 seed of the South Region. The Wolverines might finally miss Livers here.

Betting Pick: UNDER 144