College Hoops Odds – Buckeyes Have a Fight on Their Hands

People who like to wager on the college basketball betting odds know that the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes might have a legitimate fight on its hands as it pays a visit to Ann Arbor to face the Michigan Wolverines on Wednesday night.

The game at the Crisler Arena begins at 6:30 PM ET, and in the college hoops odds the Buckeyes are the eleven-point favorite. Also on the schedule for Wednesday, the Louisville Cardinals visit Philadelphia to play the Villanova Wildcats, getting four points in Big East play.

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Wednesday, January 12

#2 OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (16-0 SU, 7-6 ATS) at MICHIGAN WOLVERINES (11-5 SU, 6-4 ATS)

6:30 PM ET — Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, MI

College Hoops Odds:

Ohio State  -11

Michigan  +11

Well, you can’t really accuse the Michigan Wolverines of trying top feast on weak non-conference opposition. John Beilein’s team played Syracuse earlier in the season, and went at it with Kansas this past Sunday. In both of those games they controlled the tempo, and wound up losing, but covering. This is a very young squad, but nonetheless one that appears to demonstrate a lot more discipline and poise than the earliest of Beilein’s teams in Ann Arbor.

Now comes a challenge against an Ohio State club that, like Syracuse and Kansas, likes to play at a rapid tempo, and averages about 80 points a game. The Buckeyes were rolling over everybody in the pre-conference season, but they have not put a lot of distance between themselves and Big Ten foes Iowa and Minnesota over the last two. The Gophers harassed them a little, and showed that there might indeed be a chink in OSU’s defensive armour (held to just 39% shooting). Meanwhile, who would have guessed that Michigan would have hung around with Kansas (and winning in college hoops odds) while shooting only 33% from the floor and making only four treys? We think that could be a point in the Maize and Blue’s favor, and when executing Beilein’s exacting sets they have managed to keep turnovers to a minimum (11.3 per game). There is no reason they can’t keep fighting to the end.

JAY’S PLAY:  MICHIGAN +11 ***
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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#17 LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (13-2 SU, 7-2 ATS) at #7 VILLANOVA WILDCATS (14-1 SU, 6-5 ATS)

7 PM ET — Wells Fargo Arena, Philadelphia

College Hoops Odds:

Villanova -4

Louisville  +4

Here’s a game that is not played in Villanova’s suffocating Pavilion but in the more cavernous Wells Fargo Arena, and obvious there is a bit less of a home court advantage in this location. But don’t discount it entirely, and remember that Louisville has gotten very used to its own friendly surroundings. Rick Pitino needs to get his guys to the free throw line a lot more often in practice (67%), and we’d like to see how much the Cards’ pressure is really going to work against the guard-laden Wildcat lineup, which will have three legitimate ball-handlers in the game at all times. We admit that ‘Nova has been lightly tested for the most part, but that weekend win over Cincinnati is much more significant than it would have seemed at the beginning of the season. As a 5.5-point favorite, they covered with comfort in the college hoops odds.

JAY’S PLAY:  VILLANOVA -4 ***
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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