The No. 1 team in the country takes the floor in College Basketball tonight as the Michigan Wolverines welcome in the Northwestern Wildcats. The game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. Currently the odds for the game have Michigan favored by 17 points.
Michigan is ranked at the top spot in the Associated Press poll for the first time since 1992. That's been well documented lately, but head coach John Beilein has gone on record saying being No. 1 in January doesn't mean much at the end of the year. While that makes sense, it's also a very big accomplishment for his team and the university.
The Wolverines have already decked Northwestern this season, beating them by 28 points in Evanston last month. Michigan started that game on fire, particularly with Trey Burke. Burke led with 23 points and Michigan shot 60 percent for the game, never looking back. While it's hard to imaging that happening again in this game, don't be shocked if Michigan continues to score a lot of points.
Northwestern is a team that is physical and can slow down the pace. That didn't work the first time around in this series and now Michigan has an even bigger target on its back. Dave Sobolewski and Jared Swopshire have to come up big tonight for the Wildcats if they are going to hang around in this one. Northwestern is going to have to weather the storm early from Michigan and look to slow it down big time.
But, in the end, Michigan is a better shooting, rebounding, defensive, turnover margin, assist and balanced team. It's just not equal terms between these two teams. Both freshmen Nik Stauskas (12.7 ppg) and Glenn Robinson III would be the best option for Northwestern offensively and they're third and fourth for Michigan's squad. The depth for the Wolverines is just going to be too much tonight for the Wildcats. Expect a beatdown.
Free Pick: Michigan 84, Northwestern 59
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