College Basketball Picks: Michigan vs. Ohio State

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The Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes meet at 4 pm ET with a ticket to the Big Ten championship game on the line

Trey Burke had a season-high 30 points in the Wolverines’ overtime win vs. Minnesota

 

Michigan had a bye through the first round and was taken to overtime by a live Minnesota team on Friday. The Wolverines ended up winning 73-69 straight-up but missed the cover as a 5.5-point favorite and that’s given some fuel to this matchup vs. the Buckeyes.

 

Today’s college basketball odds show Ohio State -7.5 with a total of 126.5 and a couple of sports betting shops have tested the water at -8 and 127.

 

Ohio State was the No. 3 seed in the bracket and made short work of Purdue 88-71 in the second round, setting them up for this first-half system from Greg Dempson Sports that is 7-0 ATS during the 2011-12 season.

 

NCAA SYSTEM

Play against neutral court favorites in the first-half when they are coming off a double-digit win and facing a conference rival off a straight-up win where they failed to cover.

 

In the past five seasons this profile has cashed at an 83-percent rate (39-8 ATS) and more recently, it is on a 25-6 ATS run (81-percent). The average first half line was -3.2 and the average scoring differential was less than a point.

 

NCAA PICKS

The first-half line at Pinnacle Sports is Ohio State -4 and in the past seven meetings, the Buckeyes have only led by more than four points once. Our March Madness picks started off strong with plays from the first round of the Big Ten tourney and we’ll try and keep that going with today’s play on the dog.

Pick: Take Michigan +4 in the first-half

 

Check updated NCAA Odds and stop by the Every Edge forum for more winning picks