Big Ten Tournament Picks – Michigan vs. #5 Ohio State
by Tim Furious
The player I am most interested in watching during the conference tournament championships happens to be Evan Turner of the Ohio State Buckeyes. After battling injuries through December, the Buckeyes fell off the radar of many college basketball betting handicappers.
In his return, Turner has been nothing short of spectacular for the Buckeyes who have vaulted to fifth in the AP Top-25.
Turner leads the team with 19.5 points, 5.8 assists and 9.4 rebounds per game. At 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds he glides up and down the court seamlessly. The Buckeyes ended their season 5-3 ATS, but had a tight loss to Purdue which cost them the outright share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
To earn the faith of the betting public once again, Ohio State must have a strong showing as a Big Ten Tournament pick.
The matchup against Michigan shouldn’t give them too many issues to worry about. The Wolverines are just 2-8 SU against the Buckeyes, although they have been crafty enough to go 4-2 ATS in the last 6 matchups.
But the truth is that you simply can’t trust Michigan in a game like this. There’s no way they can score enough points to keep up and cover what I feel is an unfair betting spread.
Michigan Wolverines (15-16) vs. #5 Ohio State Buckeyes (24-7)
Friday, March 12th
Conseco Fieldhouse --- 12:00pm EST
NCAAB Betting Line: Ohio State -8.5 (120)
Ohio State is not a scoring team, but you wouldn’t tell after they averaged 73.5 points per game this season. What makes this team dangerous is that they have a strict focus on defense. Without Turner, the numbers got slightly skewed, but overall they allowed just 60.4 points per game which ranked them 21st in the country.
What makes Evan Turner so special in tournament play is that he’s a junior. He’s played with championship caliber teams before and he’s seen the highs and lows. In the college ranks this is such an important element to have. The Buckeyes’ betting faithful will see just how important it is to have an experienced, star player on their roster when they romp past the Wolverines.
Furious Free Pick: Ohio State -8.5 (UNDER) > > JOIN to bet NOW!
