After a wild Monday night to kick off the 2021 version of the Gavitt Games, we dive headfirst into the Seton Hall-Michigan sports betting odds, the best game of Tuesday night’s slate.

The Wolverines are a juggernaut right now. Hunter Dickinson came back to school and has been as good as advertised, looking every bit the part of a one-armed All-American. Devante Jones is handling his own at the point guard spot, and Michigan’s combination of trusty role players and talented freshman rounding out the rest of the roster has been impressive.

Seton Hall, on the other hand, is a team that you are going to want to be paying attention to. The Pirates have blown out their first two opponents this season, and they head to Ann Arbor with a groundswell of hype.

Does Kevin Willard have a chance at going into Crisler and leaving with a win?

Longtime college basketball writer Rob Dauster, the co-founder of The Field of 68 Network is here to break down the Gavitt Games showdown between Michigan and Seton Hall.

MICHIGAN vs. SETON HALL BETTING ODDS

GAME TIME: 9:00 p.m. ET on FS1
MONEYLINE: UCLA -157 ML, Villanova +130 ML
SPREAD: Michigan -8
TOTAL: 137.5

MICHIGAN vs. SETON HALL PREDICTION

This is very much a battle of strength on strength, as Michigan has one of the best and most efficient offenses in the country while the Pirates are built to be an absolute juggernaut on the defensive end of the floor.

Let’s start with the latter, because I think that this is the most important part of the equation when it comes to this specific matchup. Seton Hall is long. Like, insanely long. Their point guard is 6-foot-7 Kadary Richmond, the Syracuse transfer that has a 7-foot wingspan. Their center is Ike Obiagu, who is a 7-foot-2 giant that will make Dickinson look small. Surrounding that duo will be some combination of three players that are all between 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-10 with plus wingspans and the ability to switch, to pressure and to force players to try and score over length.

Seton Hall’s defensive game-plan is pretty simple right now. They overplay on the perimeter, they take you out of what you want to run and they force you to try and beat them 1-on-1. They have the length on the perimeter to contest any jumper, and they funnel drivers to Obiagu, who has an absolutely absurd 24.7% block rate through two games. That will regress, for sure, but still: LOL.

Now, here’s the issue for Michigan: Their point guard is 6-foot-1. There is a very real chance that he gets swallowed up by all of this length and athleticism. And Obiagu is precisely the kind of player that can give Dickinson real trouble. He’s not going to be backed down, he’s not going to be overpowered and Dickinson is going to need more than the one move in his arsenal to win that battle.

So in theory, I really do like Seton Hall here with the eight points.

The problem is three-fold.

  1. We have not seen the Pirates on the road yet. Richmond has looked great overwhelming teams that cannot compete with him, but what happens when he plays against a team that has similar length and athleticism? And if he struggles at the point in Crisler, that means that Seton Hall’s advantage on the defensive end disappears with Jamir Harris and/or Bryce Aiken.
  2. Jared Rhoden is probably Seton Hall’s best player. He’s at least the closest they have to a sure thing. And he’s banged up. He missed the opener and did not look like himself against Yale.
  3. If Obiagu gets into foul trouble, which is more of a ‘when’ than an ‘if’ if we’re being honest, the Pirates will not have a suitable answer for Dickinson.

I really like the Seton Hall side because I do think their defense is going to have an impact, but with the line movement, I’m not sure there is still value on that line.

But if you do not think that the Pirates can be impactful defensively, or if you think fouls will get the best of them, I would recommend the over here. I like that more than laying the eight points with Michigan.