For anyone planning to bet Michigan basketball odds one last time on Monday night, I discovered a small historical note that may be worth paying attention to.
When BetMGM dropped the opening odds for Michigan vs. UConn late on Saturday night, the Wolverines were a 7.5-point favorite. That’s a pretty sizable point spread for a championship game, which generally yields immense defensive effort and intense competition from both teams.
I started looking into the history of point spreads for men’s college basketball national championship games, curious to see if any spreads were bigger than this one. And from what I can see, 7.5 is pretty much the edge of the world, as far as point spread markets are concerned.
In 2023, UConn was a 7.5-point favorite against a generally overmatched San Diego State team. There were also a couple 2000s teams that closed as seven-point favorites, including Tyler Hansbrough UNC team in 2009. That’s pretty much it.
The spread has come toward UConn just a bit since Saturday, with the current BetMGM online sportsbook number sitting at Michigan -6.5 (-115) as of Monday afternoon, five hours before tip. That action could be tied to the health of Michigan star forward Yaxel Lendeborg, or just the mere fact that 7.5 points is a lot of runway in a championship game.
Either way, it’s probably worth noting this if you’re considering a bet on the game. As impressive as this UConn run has been, the sportsbook took a look at Michigan on Saturday night and laid down one of the largest point spreads in the modern history of the men’s championship game.
That may be a bit of a tip on which side ultimately proves to be the right one Monday night.
You can read my full Michigan vs. UConn preview here.
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