Texas Southern vs. Michigan Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The first team to play two games in the 2021 NCAA Tournament will be East Region No. 16 seed Texas Southern as the Tigers take on No. 1 Michigan in the Round of 64 on Saturday from the campus of Purdue University in Indiana. The Wolverines are heavy 26-point favourites on the college basketball odds with a total of 142.5.
Texas Southern Tigers vs. Michigan Wolverines NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this game, and it’s fair to assume that will be Michigan, would face either No. 8 LSU of the SEC or No. 9 St. Bonaventure of the Atlantic 10 for a trip to the Sweet 16 – and both the Tigers and Bonnies are good enough to upset Michigan.
A No. 16 seed has beaten a No. 1 just once in NCAA Tournament history, and it was memorably UMKC shocking No. 1 overall seed Virginia in the 2018 Big Dance – the Wahoos turned around and won the 2019 tournament. In that 2019 tournament, top seeds beat the No. 16s by an average margin of nearly 23 points. In the past five tournaments, all 20 of the 1 vs. 16 matchups have been decided by 14 points or more – that even includes UMKC, which won by 20.
Texas Southern and Michigan have never met. The Tigers are 3-1-1 against the spread in their past five NCAA Tournament games. The Wolverines are 4-1-1 ATS in their past six Big Dance games as favourites.
(16) Texas Southern Tigers
The Tigers (17-8) were 2-point underdogs in the First Four against fellow No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s, and frankly the Mountaineers were the better team for a large chunk of that game, but Texas Southern, the SWAC Tournament champion, was better when it mattered and pulled off a slight 60-52 upset. The Tigers outscored the Mountaineers 40-22 in the second half. It certainly helped Texas Southern that Mount St. Mary’s was just 8-for-16 from the free throw line. Neither team even shot 40 per cent from the field, either. Junior forward John Walker III led Texas Southern, which turned it over a scant five times, with 19 points and nine rebounds. Star and leading scorer Michael Weathers had just eight points on 3-for-11 shooting. It was the second NCAA Tournament win in school history; it has never reached the second round. The Tigers are 5-0 ATS in their past five games.
(1) Michigan Wolverines
This writer believes Michigan (20-4) is the most vulnerable of the No. 1 seeds – at full strength, the Wolverines have an argument as the second-best team in the country behind unbeaten Gonzaga. However, Michigan is not at full strength as senior forward Isaiah Livers could miss the entire Big Dance with a stress fracture in his foot that he aggravated in the Big Ten Tournament. Livers is the team’s second-leading scorer (13.1 ppg), third-leading rebounder (6.0 rpg) and top three-point shooter (43.1 per cent). As it is, U-M enters having lost three of five. It’s the 30th NCAA Tournament appearance for Michigan, which is 61-28 in the Big Dance. The Wolverines have reached at least the Sweet 16 in the past three trips. Coach Juwan Howard reached two national title games (both losses) as a member of the famous Fab Five in 1992 & ’93. U-M is seeded No. 1 for the third time in program history. It was also a No. 1 seed in 1985 & ’93.
TXSO
MICH