Michigan Basketball vs Villanova: Predictions, Odds, TV Channel and Live Stream

Michigan basketball will attempt to get back to the Sweet 16 on Thursday night with a win over Villanova and here are the odds, a prediction, and how to watch. 

Believe it or not, the Michigan basketball team is back in the Sweet 16, right where it belongs. It didn’t always seem like this team would make it. Heck, until selection Sunday, we didn’t even know if Michigan would make the tournament.

But the Wolverines did enough to make the field of 68 and that’s the most important thing. Last season, 11th-seeded UCLA rode its talent to the Final Four, beating top-seeded Michigan along the way and there’s no reason the Wolverines can’t do that in 2022.

Sure, there are some heavyweights that wait for Michigan in the South Regional in San Antonio, starting with Villanova but also with Arizona and Houston. Arizona is the No. 1 seed in the region and Houston was a Final Four team a year ago.

And Michigan for all its struggles and inconsistency has shown why it was ranked in the top five to start the season. Hunter Dickinson is one of the best scorers in college basketball. Moussa Diabate and Caleb Houstan are five-star freshmen that play like it at times and at times, play just like freshmen, with all the mistakes to boot.

But then, just like last week against Colorado State, Houstan will hit three second-half 3-pointers or Diabate will come up with big buckets in the post or a timely block. You add in “The Professor” in Eli Brooks and a hopefully healthy DeVante Jones and this isn’t the talent of an 11-seed.

Michigan basketball has more NBA players — more professional players than Villanova. The Wildcats have six top-100 recruits and one ranked in the 50. Michigan has eight top-100 recruits with four ranked in the top 50. Eli Brooks and Jones aren’t even top-100 guys.

The tournament is also about matchups and as we talked about the other day: Villanova has no one that can guard Hunter Dickinson. The Wildcats aren’t good at defending the rim or 2-pointers. Michigan should be able to take advantage and that will surely lead to double teams and open looks for guys like Houstan. Those need to be made cause Nova will score too.

And before we get to our prediction, here’s a look at the odds for Michigan and Villanova, plus how to watch and stream.

Michigan basketball vs Villanova odds

According to WynnBET, Villanova is a 5.5-point favorite heading into the Sweet 16 matchup with Michigan. The over/under is 135.5 and the money line is -240 for Villanova and +185 for Michigan basketball.

Michigan basketball vs Villanova prediction

Villanova is a really good team. They aren’t the most talented team left but they don’t make mistakes and they shoot the ball really well from 3-point range. It’s a classic Villanova team where basically everyone can shoot.

As good as Dickinson is on defense, he struggles on defense, especially when he has to defend bigs that can shoot and Villanova will try to exploit that with its ball-screen heavy offense.

So as much as Villanova could struggle to defend Dickinson, he and Michigan are going to have the same problem defending the Wildcats. Tennessee was a standout shooting team and Michigan held the Vols to 2-of-18 from 3-point range.

Villanova is a little different though. The Wildcats shoot 36 percent as a team and basically, everyone on the roster shoots it. A couple of the rotation players are under 30 percent but they won’t be afraid to attempt shots and Michigan can’t make mental mistakes on defense.

The Wolverines can’t on offense either. DeVante Jones practiced Wednesday and I would expect him to start. We’ll see how he plays and defensively, Frankie Collins will need some minutes, plus Michigan needs his explosive ability in terms of getting to the bucket and creating shots.

At this point in the tournament, every team can see the Final Four within reach but the level of play kicks up a notch and Michigan will have to be ready. But as I said when the Wolverines entered the tournament, they are a tough matchup for certain teams and Nova seems like one.

If Dickinson goes off or his teammates take advantage of the open looks they are sure to get because of double teams, Michigan can find a way to win this game and I think the Wolverines will do just that by a score of 77-73 as Dickinson has another 20 and 10 performance.

What channel is the Michigan basketball game on?

Michigan basketball will play Tennessee on TBS at  07:29 PM EST/06:29 PM PST.

Michigan basketball vs Villanova Live Stream

Today’s Michigan basketball game can be live-streamed on Fubo TV.