Michigan Wolverines vs. Ohio State Buckeyes Odds, Betting Preview, Analysis

If the Ohio State Buckeyes (16-10) are going to make the NCAA tournament for an eighth straight year, then Tuesday’s home game versus the Michigan Wolverines (19-7) is a must-win situation.

The key Big Ten matchup is listed as a pick 'em at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark, with the Buckeyes going for their third victory in a row.

Ohio State is currently in a three-way tie for sixth place in the conference with the Michigan State Spartans and Purdue Boilermakers, both of whom are virtual locks to make the Big Dance because they have already reached 20 wins.

After failing to cover the spread in three of their past four games despite winning two straight, the Buckeyes need to win four of their next five to accomplish that feat during the regular season.

Meanwhile, like Michigan State and Purdue, Michigan also looks like a solid pick to make the NCAA tournament field for the fifth consecutive year. The Wolverines are trying to win their third in a row overall as well after beating the Boilermakers 61-56 as one-point home underdogs Saturday.

They scored the final 11 points of the game against Purdue to pull off the small upset and were led by Zak Irvin’s 22 points.

Michigan has won four of the past five meetings with Ohio State, covering the spread in three of the last four, according to the Odds Shark College Basketball Database, and split a pair of games a year ago, with each school winning on its home court.

Those previous two meetings both went under the total after the over was on a 3-0 run in the series. The Wolverines are riding a three-game road winning streak, with the over cashing in each victory and also going 7-0 in their past seven away from home.

The Buckeyes have seen the over cash in their last three overall, and their lone setback at home in Big Ten play came in a 66-61 loss to the Maryland Terrapins as 4.5-point underdogs on January 31.

However, they still have to host the Spartans and the conference-leading Iowa Hawkeyes in two of their last three regular-season games before closing out the campaign by visiting Michigan State on March 6.