Oklahoma vs Michigan prediction, odds, pick for College Basketball

12/18/2024 10:37 AM

It’s time to continue our College Basketball odds series with an Oklahoma-Michigan prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Oklahoma-Michigan.

This should be fun. Oklahoma is unbeaten, part of an SEC juggernaut which has taken college basketball by storm this season. Michigan, coached by former Florida Atlantic boss Dusty May, looks much improved compared to last season and has a real chance to boost its resume here with a victory. Bettors need to take note that this is a neutral-site game in Charlotte, and it could have a real NCAA Tournament flavor given the way both teams are playing.

Oklahoma is an unbeaten team at 10-0. No one predicted that for a team whose roster underwent dramatic changes and endured several notable transfer portal departures. Coach Porter Moser might have faced what some analysts viewed as a rebuilding year, right after being one of the first teams out on Selection Sunday in a really cruel plot twist which was a gut punch for the program. Oklahoma looked likely to make the NCAA Tournament throughout Championship Week, until the final hours before Selection Sunday, when automatic bids went to unlikely teams in the conference tournaments. Those extra autobids — going to unlikely NCAA Tournament at-large teams — popped OU’s bubble. The same was true for St. John’s and Seton Hall. Oklahoma endured a nasty twist of fate and then watched guys go to the portal. Everything seemed to be crashing down on Moser, who led Loyola Chicago to the 2018 Final Four and was supposed to be a success at OU.

His back against the wall, Moser was able to bring guard Jeremiah Fears into the program. Fears has turned into an elite freshman and a leader who is wiser than his years. Fears has been the steady, reliable hand at the helm of an Oklahoma offense which doesn’t get bogged down the way previous Sooner offenses did. Oklahoma will always play good defense — the Moser trademark — but the offense doesn’t get stuck nearly as much, which is why the Sooners are unbeaten.

OU’s success is part of a crazy run of excellence by the SEC. The conference could have at least 10 or 11 NCAA Tournament teams, given the way it is dominating nonconference play. How great has the SEC been? Try this: It is 50-4 in the month of December. That’s right: The whole conference — all 16 teams — has lost a grand total of just four games in the first 17 days of December. That is nuts. Can OU and the SEC keep it going?

Michigan will have something to say about that.

Michigan already has Big Ten wins over Wisconsin and Iowa on the board. The Wolverines beat TCU in nonconference play and took Arkansas and John Calipari to the wire in a New York thriller earlier this month. Michigan looks like an NCAA Tournament team, but a win over Oklahoma would offer a significant boost to UM’s resume. There’s a lot for both teams to play for in Charlotte.

Here are the Oklahoma-Michigan College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel 

College Basketball Odds: Oklahoma-Michigan Odds

Oklahoma: +3.5 (-120)

Moneyline: +128

Michigan: -3.5 (-102)

Moneyline: -154

Over: 151.5 (-110)

Under: 151.5 (-110)

How to Watch Oklahoma vs Michigan

Time: 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT

TV: ESPN2

*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*

Why Oklahoma Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Sooners haven’t yet lost. People keep expecting them to lose, but they don’t, and they’re getting — not giving — points on a neutral floor. Why are they even an underdog in the first place?

Why Michigan Will Cover The Spread/Win

Oklahoma is bound to regress. The Sooners are due for a clunker. Dusty May will have Michigan prepared for this game. It’s actually very simple.

Final Oklahoma-Michigan Prediction & Pick

Oklahoma is bound to have a bad game. Michigan is good enough to pounce when given the opening. No, we don’t like the spread, but Michigan moneyline at -154 is a more-than-reasonable price, and you won’t have to sweat the spread. Michigan by one pays you. Go for it.

Final Oklahoma-Michigan Prediction & Pick: Michigan moneyline

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