Spread & Over/Under Predictions For Michigan at Rutgers

Michigan sure could use another nice win against Rutgers tonight in Piscataway.

Michigan is sitting at 15-12 with a chance for another Quad 1 win tonight against the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. 

All season long Michigan has gone back and forth between playing really solid basketball and basketball that's just not quite good enough to beat good teams. Tonight, they'll get a chance to show just how good they can be against a solid Rutgers team in the RAC, which has proven to be a very tough place to play over the last handful of years.

As of right now, Michigan is not a tournament team, so it's really about pride at this point. If the team is proud enough, and some nice wins are stacked up down the stretch here, maybe, just maybe, Michigan could be viewed as a fringe bubble team when the time comes.

Spread: Michigan +5.5

As noted above, it's tough for any team to get a win in Piscataway at any point in the season. That's definitely the case at this point in the season especially when Rutgers is sitting at 13-3 at home (17-10 overall). Once again, Jett Howard is dinged up a bit with an ankle injury and Terrance Williams II is still questionable as well with a knee contusion. These injuries don't bode well for Michigan's chances on the road against a solid, scrappy team like Rutgers. This game feels like one that Michigan will lose because frankly, that's how they've played this year. Some up, some down, and if there's a chance to be down it's while playing at The RAC. Michigan is desperate, but it just doesn't feel like enough, and the Wolverines are just 1-5 against the spread in its last six road games.

Over/Under: 134.5

As for the point total, it feels like points could be at a premium in this one. If Howard can't go, that obviously hurts U-M as a scoring team. Even if he can play, he'll likely be a bit limited. Rutgers is an elite defensive team giving up just 59.9 points per game, good for No. 8 in the country. On offense, Rutgers is without two key starters, so points could be harder to come by for them as well. Picking a winner or the spread is tough in this one, but rolling with the UNDER feels like a pretty safe bet.