2011 March Madness Free Picks: Tennessee Volunteers vs Michigan Wolverines on TRU TV – Odds and Predictions -NCAA Basketball Betting 3/17/11: Head basketball coach Bruce Pearl will lead the No. 9 seed Tennessee Volunteers on the road to the Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte to take on head basketball coach John Beilein and his No. 8 seed Michigan Wolverines on Friday at 12:45 PM ET on TRU TV. Tennessee has lost 3 of 5 and enters the game coming off a loss to finish 19-14 – good for 5th in the SEC . Michigan is also coming off a defeat but has won 3 of 4 and comes in at 20-13 – 4th in the strong Big Ten.
Coach Beilein has taken 4 different teams to the NCAA tournament as a head coach. “I don’t care about the seedings and all those things,” Beilein said. “The only thing that I would say is, we finished fourth in a great conference. Forget the tiebreakers and all that stuff. I have never seen the Big Ten be this strong in my four years here, and we finished fourth.” Tennessee coach Pearl would rather talk x’s and o’s but instead must answer questions about his job. ”When you put yourself in a position where you provide false or misleading information to the NCAA and you go through an NCAA investigation, you put yourself in a position where you’re going to be evaluated at the end of the year,” Pearl said. ”So that’s what our status is.” The oddsmakers at BetUS Sportsbook have the Tennessee Volunteers a -1 1/2 point favorite in the first round against the Michigan Wolverines.
The Wolverines are coming off a loss 68-61 to the Ohio State Buckeyes to move to an impressive 19-8 ATS for the season. Guard Darius Morris led the way with 16 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists while Tim Hardaway Jr. chipped in 15 points and pulled down 4 boards. Michigan is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games. Vegas oddsmakers have the Michigan Wolverines +2500 to win the 2011 West Region of the NCAA Championship.
Tennessee is coming off a loss to Florida 85-74 in the SEC tournament in Atlanta moving them to 12-18 ATS for the season. Forward Tobias Harris scored 25 points and pulled down 8 boards while guard Scotty Hopson chipped in 19 points, grabbed 2 rebounds and dished one dime. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 127 1/2 points combined of the Tennessee Volunteers and Michigan Wolverines.
I predict a Michigan victory, go Big Blue!
GAME: No. 9 Tennessee (19-14) vs No. 8 Michigan (20-13)
TIME: 12:40 PM EST
TELEVISION: TRU TV
VEGAS ODDS: Favorite: Tennessee -1.5 Total: Over/Under 127.5
* Vegas Betting Lines at Ceasars Palace
Get ALL of today’s odds on the NCAA Tourmament LIVE
FREE PICK: Michigan Wolverines +1.5
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