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The No. 5 seed Michigan Wolverines (26-9) and the No. 4 seed Texas A&M Aggies (23-10) meet Saturday at Ball Arena in Denver in an NCAA Tournament South Region second-round game. Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 5:15 p.m. ET (CBS). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Michigan vs. Texas A&M odds, and make our expert college basketball picks and predictions.
It was the definition of ‘survive and advance’ Thursday night for Michigan, as the Wolverines edged past NCAA Tournament debutant UC San Diego, 68-65, as 2-point favorites, while the Under (143.5) cashed. The books anticipated a close game, and that’s exactly what we got.
C Vladislav Goldin led the Maize and Blue with 14 points and 7 rebounds, while G Tre Donaldson contributed 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. F Danny Wolf finished with 9 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots.
In the postseason, Michigan is a perfect 4-0 straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS), while splitting the Over/Under (O/U) 2-2. This marks a stark contrast to the end of the regular season, when the Wolverines lost 3 straight to close the campaign, went 0-4 ATS in their final 4 games, and 2-13 ATS over their last 15 outings.
Texas A&M topped Yale 80-71 as a 7-point favorite in Thursday’s opener, while the Over (141) hit. F Pharrel Payne came off the bench to lead the team with a career-high 25 points on an efficient 10-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-6 from downtown. He also added 10 rebounds for a double-double. G Wade Taylor led the starters with 16 points, the only member of the starting 5 to score in double digits.
The Aggies are still just 3-5 SU/ATS in the past 8 games, while the Over is on a 6-1 run.
These teams met in the Sweet 16 on March 22, 2018, with Michigan dominating Texas A&M 99-72 as a 1-point favorite, while the Over (144) hit.
– Rankings: USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll
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Michigan vs. Texas A&M odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Friday at 6:10 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Michigan +125 (bet $100 to win $125) | Texas A&M -150 (bet $150 to win $100)
- Against the spread: Michigan +2.5 (-105) | Texas A&M -2.5 (-115)
- Over/Under: 141.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Michigan vs. Texas A&M picks and predictions
Prediction
Michigan 73, Texas A&M 70
Moneyline
MICHIGAN (+125) is the lean in what should be another very close game.
Texas A&M topped Yale, but the jury is still out for both teams, to be honest. Neither was particularly impressive in the first round. The Aggies needed a career game from Payne to save it from an embarrassing loss to a Yale team with zero NIL dollars.
However, the Wolverines will need to improve on their 42.1% shooting (24 of 57) from the field and be much more efficient at the free-throw line after hitting just 55.0% (11 of 20), which made the game closer than it needed to be.
Against the spread
MICHIGAN +2.5 (-105) is worth a play, catching the bucket and change if you don’t fully trust it SU and want a little wiggle room.
This should be a tight game with Texas A&M, a team that did not play its best game against Yale. However, we didn’t see a great outing from the Wolverines, either.
Over/Under
OVER 141.5 (-110) is the lean, but go with a half-unit play at best.
Michigan left a lot of points on the floor with 9 missed free-throw attempts in its first-round game. That’s a concern for Over bettors, as the Wolverines ranked 201st in the nation, shooting just 71.7% from the charity stripe this season. It can be frustrating when you’re sweating the Over late, counting down the points.
However, Texas A&M has hit high in 6 of the past 7, and we should see a much more lively pace from both teams than we saw in Round 1.
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