The Villanova Wildcats are a perfect 5-0 straight up and against the spread through five NCAA tournament games. The Wildcats will try to stay perfect and lock up another national title with a win on Monday over the Michigan Wolverines.
Michigan vs. Villanova odds 2018: Wildcats big betting favorites facing Wolverines in March Madness title game
The Wildcats and the Wolverines meet in the NCAA tournament championship game on Monday night in San Antonio, with the sportsbooks giving the nod to Villanova on the odds.
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Villanova is a 6.5-point favorite in the championship game at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. This is the biggest favorite in the NCAA championship game since Duke was a 7-point favorite over Butler back in 2010.
Villanova Wildcats at Michigan Wolverines
When: Monday, April 2, 9:20 p.m. ET
Where: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Betting Line / Total: Villanova -6.5 / 145 Points
Villanova Wildcats
The Wildcats going off as such big favorites is less a slight on Michigan and more a result of how dominant Villanova has been throughout this postseason.
Fueled by 18 three-pointers and 55.4% shooting from the field on Saturday, the Wildcats crushed Kansas 95-79 as 5-point favorites. With that win, Villanova moved to 10-0 SU and 8-2 ATS over its last 10 games.
The 2016 national champions have averaged 84.8 points per game during their 5-0 SU and ATS run through the tournament and have won every game by at least 12 points.
In their last 11 games against Big Ten opponents, the Wildcats are 10-1 ATS.
Michigan Wolverines
Michigan entered the NCAA tournament as one of the hottest teams in the nation going 9-0 SU and 8-1 ATS over a stretch that included upset wins over Penn State, Michigan State and Purdue en route to a Big Ten championship. That momentum carried over into the tournament as the Wolverines have gone 5-0 SU and 3-2 ATS, most recently ending the Cinderella story of Loyola-Chicago with a 69-57 victory in the Final Four.
The Wolverines are 7-0 ATS over their last seven games as an underdog, according to the OddsShark College Basketball Database, but just 4-27 SU in their last 31 games as an underdog of 6.5 points or more.
Monday night’s total is set at 145 points. The OVER is 14-4 in Villanova’s last 18 games with a closing total of 145 points or more.
The Wolverines have held their opponents to just 58.6 points per game so far in the NCAA tournament. Facing the best offense in the nation, Michigan will need another excellent effort on defense to keep this one within range for a potential upset.
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