January 22 CBB lines

The Friday, January 22 CBB lines are live on BetRivers.com, and although there is only one power-conference game on the college basketball schedule, it’s a good one.

The Michigan Wolverines, picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten prior to the start of the season, sits atop the conference and is ranked in the AP Top 10, with double-digit victories over three ranked teams (Northwestern, Minnesota and Wisconsin).

Juwan Howard is the frontrunner for both Big Ten Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year, while big-man Hunter Dickinson is the frontrunner for Big Ten Freshman of the Year and National Freshman of the Year. The Wolverines head to West Lafayette, IN to take on a Purdue team that like Michigan is also exceeding expectations.

Rob Dauster, a longtime national college basketball writer, and co-founder of the Field of 68 Podcast Network took a look at the January 22 CBB lines and has a lot to say about the Michigan-Purdue odds.

FRIDAY HOUSE SPECIAL (click here for more specials):

  • Michigan -2.5 & Over 139.5 total game points (Was +265, Now +300)

COLLEGE BASKETBALL ODDS: JANUARY 22 CBB LINES

#7 MICHIGAN (12-1, 7-1) at PURDUE (11-5, 6-3), 7 p.m. ET
MONEYLINE: Michigan -186, Purdue +155
SPREAD: Michigan -4
OVER/UNDER: 139 points
Click here for the full list of Michigan-Purdue odds.

It’s a big day in the state of Michigan. Online sports betting is now live and legal!  Begin your Michigan Sports betting experience with BetRivers. Place your bets and win.

Tonight, the Wolverines play, which means that we obviously have to find an angle for this game. All you Michiganders need to get in on the action, and to be honest, I think the side I like here is … not Big Blue.

Michigan’s offense is interesting. It’s more or less built around the post efficiency of 7-foot-1 freshman Hunter Dickinson. A monster on the block, he’s a guy that has started forcing teams to double him on the catch because of his ability to put anyone that dares try to stop in on the block through the rim. He’s been awesome.

But the thing about Purdue is that they have the big bodies inside. Trevion Williams is not the world’s greatest defender, but he’s much more capable of dealing with big posts — he is 260 pounds, after all — than he is at chasing shooters around the perimeter or dealing with ball-screen after ball-screen. The same can be said about 7-foot-4 freshman Zach Edey, who has been a pleasant surprise for Boilermaker fans this season.

Purdue has seemingly found their rhythm. This is a younger team that we are used to Matt Painter having, but they look like they have turned a corner in recent weeks. They are running everything through Williams, who is one of the best post passers that you’ll find, and the likes of Eric Hunter and Sasha Stefanovic have started playing much better. Throw in Jaden Ivey, who is hitting game-winning threes now, and this is a team that is playing some of their best basketball right now.

Mackey Arena is not what it usually is, not without fans in the arena, but this is still a place where Purdue is comfortable playing.

So I’ll back the Boilermakers in this spot.