On Friday, March 28, 2025 the Michigan Wolverines will take on the Auburn Tigers in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. Michigan has used its size to make life miserable for their opponents in this tournament so far. They will look to do the same to the number-one overall seed in the tournament in this Michigan vs Auburn showdown.
The latest odds from BetRivers have Auburn as a 7.5-point favorite in a very SEC-friendly environment in Atlanta, GA. The total for this matchup has been set at 150.5. For a complete breakdown of this game between teams from two of the best conferences in college basketball, including our best bet for the game, continue reading.
Michigan Hopes to Punish Auburn In the Paint
The Michigan Wolverines beat the UC San Diego Tritons in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and followed that up with a win over the Texas A&M Aggies. Michigan relied on their superior size to pick up those wins, with center Vladislav Goldin shooting 12-23 from the field and averaging 18.5 points per game in those two tournament wins. Here, Goldin and the Wolverines will need to be at their best on both ends of the floor to upset the top overall seed in the tournament.
The key to this game for Michigan will be to avoid turning the ball over. If the Wolverines can set their defense and prevent Auburn from getting out in transition, they can hang around in this game and become a legitimate threat to pull off the upset. But if Michigan lets Auburn get out and run regularly in this matchup, we could see things get out of hand in a hurry.
Auburn Looks to Hold Serve As Top Seed
Auburn has enjoyed two impressive wins to open their 2025 NCAA Tournament. The Tigers beat up on Alabama State in the opening round before running away from Creighton in the second half of their round two triumph. Here, Bruce Pearl’s team will once again be expected to advance, but they will once again need to overcome a size disadvantage to accomplish that.
At times, Auburn struggled to deal with the height of Ryan Kalkbrenner of Creighton. When Kalkbrenner got deep one-on-one position in the paint, which happened on multiple occasions, Auburn was more or less left to simply hope he would miss. If the Tigers can’t prevent Goldin from getting deep paint position in this contest, this game could stay close and get unpredictable down the stretch.
Michigan vs Auburn Prediction
Auburn -7.5 (-110) over Michigan
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- Auburn has already stopped an elite big in Ryan Kalkbrenner and should be able to handle Vlad Goldin as well.
- Michigan struggled for most of their game against Texas A&M until they made a late run.
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