NCAA Tournament: Noles open as betting underdogs against Michigan

No. 4 seed FSU basketball defeated No. 5 seed Colorado and will meet No. 1 seed Michigan in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament Sunday afternoon.

The Noles opened as +3 betting underdogs according to the Action Network, with an over/under of 145 point total.

That means oddsmakers are expecting a score somewhere in the range of 74-71. It’s early, but 56 percent of the bets are on the Noles and the over total.

It’ll be interesting to see how much the line moves and what percentage of bets are on which team when Sunday rolls around.

Michigan has been one of the better teams in college basketball all season but is missing their second-leading scorer in Isaiah Livers, who’s out with a stress fracture.

However, they’ve played several games without him and should have some familiarity with how to play without him.

Have they faced a team like FSU basketball since his injury? Ohio State would be the closest comparison, and Michigan lost that game.

The Noles will be the most balanced and best defensive team Michigan has gone up against since Illinois, who also beat Michigan, and that was with Livers.

FSU fans are pleased the Noles have reached the Sweet 16, but understand the ceiling of this team is much higher than what they’ve shown the past few games.

The last 30 minutes of the Colorado game is a great example of what FSU brings to the table when they are not turning the ball over. Their defense is a problem for any team, and even on a night when the offense looks lost, they can still make 52.2 percent of their shots.

Some players on the FSU team playing with injuries, but the team looked to get a shot of confidence in how they put Colorado away in the second half. FSU seems to play better when they are underdogs, and the game against Michigan would be a great opportunity to find that chip on their shoulder and impose their will.