College Basketball Picks: Eastern Michigan Eagles vs. Michigan Wolverines

The Michigan Wolverines (11-0) are outscoring opponents by an average of 20.6 points per game this season, which is important to consider when making your college basketball picks against the spread (ATS) Thursday night, as they prepare to host the Eastern Michigan Eagles (6-3) at the Crisler Center.

Sports bettors will find that the Wolverines have moved up to 24.5-point home favorites in the NCAA basketball betting odds (courtesy of SBR Forum), while the total sits at 115.5 in the market.

Let's take a closer look at this in-state rivalry from a betting perspective, while offering a prediction along the way. 

Eastern Michigan Eagles

The Eastern Michigan Eagles have lost all three of their games on the road this year by an average margin of 23 points per game.

Sports bettors will have a hard time backing that type of statistic, considering the program has failed to cover the spread in eight of its last nine games as a road underdog of 12.5 or more points.

Michigan Wolverines

The Michigan Wolverines have one of the more talented backcourts in college basketball, with guards Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. combining to average 33.7 points per game.

Sports bettors will find that the favorite is 4-0 ATS in the last four meetings in this series, which fits nicely with the Wolverines shooting 50.4 percent from the field through 11 games this year. 

Prediction

I'm going to recommend that readers back the Michigan Wolverines as one of their NCAA basketball picks against the spread Thursday, especially since the Eastern Michigan Eagles are shooting just 34.5 percent from the field away from home.

College Basketball Pick: Michigan Wolverines -24.5

Follow Jeff Grant on Twitter