The 7th seed Michigan Wolverines face the 2nd seed Louisville Cardinals in a Midwest Region 2nd round NCAA Tournament game that will take place at a neutral site at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana Sunday March 19th at 12:10 PM ET. The Cardinals opened as a -1 point spread favorite, but wagers on them have driven the line up to Louisville -2.5 over Michigan. The O/U line for this match is on the NCAA board at 140 points.
Michigan is coming off a 92-91 win over Oklahoma State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament where they failed to cover the spread as a 2.5-point favorite. The total number of points scored in the game was 183, which was well over the closing line of 155. Previous to the Oklahoma State game the Wolverines had covered the spread in five straight games and in three of their last four games the total has gone over. Michigan has won six straight games.
Louisville is coming off a 78-63 win over Jacksonville State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament where they failed to cover the spread as an 18.5-point favorite. The total number of points scored in the game was 141, which was over the closing line of 133. Louisville has failed to cover the spread in six of their last seven games, including their last four, and in four of their last five games, including their last two, the total has gone over.
Offensively, Michigan is putting up 74.9 points per game on a 48.4% FG average, which ranks 18th in the nation. On the defensive side of the ball the Wolverines are allowing 65.8 points per game on a 46.6% FG average.
Louisville is putting up 77.5 points per game on a 45.7% FG average. On defense the Cardinals are allowing 65.8 points per game on a 39.8% FG average, which ranks 13th in the nation.
These teams met in the 2013 season where Louisville beat Michigan 82-76.
Michigan Wolverines at Louisville Cardinals Betting Trends
- The game total has gone over in 8 of Michigan’s last 11 games vs. Atlantic Coast.
- The game total has gone over in 9 of Michigan’s last 14 Sunday games.
- Louisville is 7-1-1 against the spread in their last 9 games vs. Big Ten.
- The game total has gone over in 12 of Louisville’s last 14 games as the favorite.
Public Money Consensus
In this March Madness matchup between Michigan and Louisville have the public leaning slightly to the home Cardinals minus the 2.5 points with 56%. The over/under bettors are definitively banking on this game going over the posted total line of 139.5 with 94% on board.