Henry Roldán
The second round of the South bracket will bring us an extremely interesting commitment this Saturday when Michigan faces Tennessee. The Wolverines are coming off a comfortable 75-63 defeat of Colorado State, even though they weren’t favorites to dispatch the No. Six seed. For their part, the Volunteers had no mercy on the Longwoods, whom they beat 88-56, up their No. 3 spot in the conference.
Picks and Predictions for the Michigan Wolverines vs Tennessee Volunteers NCAA Basketball Championship Round 2 Game on March 19
- Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, Indiana
- When: Saturday, March 19, 5:15 PM ET
- Betting Line: Michigan Wolverines (+5.5) vs Tennessee Volunteers (-5.5)
Michigan Wolverines Betting Preview
- Overall Record: 17-14
- Conference Record: 17-14
- Spread: +5.5
- Over/Under: Over 139
- Moneyline: +210
The ups and downs Michigan has had since January makes them a very difficult team to analyze. When everything was looking for Colorado State to dispatch them in the first round, the Wolverines imposed their great internal game to move to the second round and their figure was none other than center Hunter Dickinson, the man who carried the team all year and who made use of his 2.15 centimeters to score 21 points with six rebounds against the Rams.
That great game in the paint and the ability to defend mid-range shots should be Michigan’s defensive weapons this Saturday.
Tennessee Volunteers Betting Preview
- Overall Record: 26-7
- Conference Record: 14-4
- Spread: –5.5
- Over/Under: Over 139
- Moneyline: –250
Tennessee isn’t a team that pitches very well from a distance, but considering the 58% they managed against Longwood and will have a lot of trouble attacking the paint, it will be vital for the Volunteers to get a little closer to that performance if they don’t want to be surprised by Michigan. In fact, the Wolverines do not have as many problems as Longwood defending at long distance, but they are not as good and proof of this is that in the season they had a 3-8 mark when the rivals shot for more than 36% and 0-6 when they registered at least 48%.
On the defensive side the task won’t be easy trying to slow down Dickinson, so forcing Michigan to throw from medium and long range will be important to one of the best defenses in the nation.
