You can find this bet for -110 nearly everywhere.
Michigan is favored by nearly 9 points in this spot against Tennessee and we love the chances for them to cover this decently large spread. This is simply a horrific matchup for the Vols. They rely HEAVILY on scoring via post ups, leading the SEC in that category and their rate of scoring inside the paint has actually been higher in the tournament than during the regular season, which is alarming in this spot. Michigan ranks in the 85th percentile defensively against post-ups, meaning that Tennessee’s main way of scoring is going to be drastically neutered. Rick Barnes is not the coach to rely on finding a new way forward. He is 5-16 straight up as an underdog in the tournament, and 5-12 against the spread in the tournament over the last 20 years with just a day of prep time (as he has here). They were able to overwhelm Iowa State on the glass 43-22, but they will not be able to do that to this much bigger Michigan team. This should be one way traffic in our estimation.