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The first day of the real March Madness is almost here, as TONS of NCAA Tournament games get underway in less than 24 hours!
With the Michigan Wolverines and Colorado State Rams set to tipoff at 12:15 p.m. on CBS tomorrow, where do the oddsmakers have the betting line heading into this one? And what about the player props? Let’s take one final look at where things are at.
All odds are brought to you by DraftKings Sportsbook.
The Spread/Money Line
As of Thursday afternoon, the Wolverines are favored by just one point against Colorado State. If you recall from earlier this week, the opening spread at was at 2.5 points, so it has drastically gone down since then. The line started to move Thursday due to starting point guard DeVante’ Jones being ruled out for the game due to a concussion.
It is -110 if you want to bet the spread for either Michigan or Colorado State, so the money at the sportsbook hasn’t really gone in one direction or the other. If you’re not a huge sports bettor, that means you would win the same amount of money if you bet against the spread for either team.
Meanwhile, the money line stands at -120 for Michigan and +100 for Colorado State. For example, if you were to place a $10 bet on the Wolverines to win the game and they did win, you would win $8.33. If you placed that same $10 bet on the Rams and they won the game, you’d win $10.
The Wolverines are among the few lower-seeded teams in the tournament to be favored against a higher seed, so we’ll soon find out if the oddsmakers knew what they were talking about.
Over/Under
The point total is set at 137.5, with both the over and under at -100. It started off at 139, so this has also moved down a bit due to Jones being ruled out of the game.
Player Props
If you are a regular sports bettor like myself, you probably find yourself checking out the player props more often than not. Below are a list of total points for the players on both teams.
- Caleb Houstan: 10.5 (over +110, under -145)
- Eli Brooks: 13.5 (over -105, under -125)
- Hunter Dickinson: 19.5 (over -115, under -115)
- Isaiah Stevens: 15.5 (over +100, under -135
- David Roddy: 21.5 (over -110, under -120)
Here are a few of the rebounding betting odds:
- Houstan: 3.5 (over -105, under -130)
- Dickinson: 8.5 (over +105, under -135)
- Roddy: 7.5 (over -130, under +100)
- Stevens: 3.5 (over +130, under -175)
What I am taking away from this is the oddsmakers are NOT expecting Dickinson to have a very good game, for his standards. With Jones being out, I’m surprised both these numbers aren’t a tad higher.
From the looks of it, the oddsmakers are very bullish on Roddy’s chances of having a big game. He’s been incredible this season for the Rams, averaging 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, so it wouldn’t be a huge shock to me if he does hit around 21 points and 7.5 rebounds, as DraftKings thinks he will get to.
Final Thoughts
While the Wolverines have remained favored since the opening betting line was released on Sunday, the bettors are starting to give Colorado State some of their money due to the Jones injury. If you are one of those bettors that likes to bet on your favorite team and are strongly considering putting some money on Michigan, you may want to do it soon and get the best bang for you buck.
If you plan on placing any bets before the game, which way are you leaning? Are you going to be putting money on the spread? Money line? Player props? Let us know in the comments section below where you’re leaning!