The Midwest Region’s top dog Michigan prepares to square off with fourth-seeded Alabama at the United Center in Chicago with a chance to advance to the Elite Eight.
Dusty May’s Wolverines enter this contest as a 9.5-point favorite over a short-handed Crimson Tide bunch. Below, I will highlight a “Same-Game Parlay” (SGP) that I will be targeting ahead of this matchup.
With that said, here's my college basketball parlay and Michigan vs Alabama picks for Friday, March 27.
College Basketball Parlay for Michigan vs Alabama
- Michigan -9.5
- Yaxel Lendeborg 15+ Points
Parlay Odds: +146 (DraftKings)
Remember, parlays are long shots for a reason, so please bet responsibly.
Michigan vs Alabama Parlay Picks
Michigan -9.5
This game will almost surely deliver a ton of points since it features the top two offenses in the nation. However, Alabama will be without one of its star guards in Aden Holloway, who found himself in some legal trouble prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament.
Fortunately for Nate Oats, Alabama hasn't skipped a beat, having just dismantled a well-coached Texas Tech team by 25 points in the second round. The Red Raiders were without their best player — JT Toppin — but it still was an impressive showing from the Tide.
The Midwest Region looks primed for the taking with both Iowa State and Tennessee dealing with injury problems of their own.
While I was impressed with Alabama’s dominant victory over Texas Tech, Oats’ Tide has a far more difficult task ahead with a matchup versus the nation’s top defense.
Though it appears money is flowing in on the Alabama side (the -10.5 opening number has now dropped to -9.5), I absolutely love the Wolverines in this spot in what I expect to be another very convincing victory.
While Alabama undoubtedly boasts one of the most explosive offenses in the country (led by the scoring of its star guard, Labaron Philon Jr.), it plays in the SEC, not a conference known for its defensive prowess.
This offense relies heavily on its ability to convert from beyond the arc (over 53% of its field goal attempts come from deep), and the Tide will be met with Dusty May’s heavy-pressure perimeter defense, which allows its opponents to hit just a 30% clip from deep.
Alabama also relies heavily on second-chance scoring opportunities. Those are chances I expect to be minimized substantially when matched up with a Wolverines bunch that dominates on the glass, with vast contributions from the likes of 7-foot-3 Aday Mara, Morez Johnson Jr and superstar Yaxel Lendeborg.
I expect Michigan to force Alabama into inefficient shots with minimal success in extending possessions on the offensive glass.
On the other end of the floor, Alabama’s defense must contain an up-tempo Michigan offense that can match its pace and boasts tremendous versatility. The Wolverines are capable of scoring from all over the floor.
Alabama’s pace of play has its advantages until it's matched up against a Michigan offense that will expose the Tide on the other end. The defense ranks outside the top 340 nationally in both total points allowed and total rebounds allowed per game.
I fully expect the Wolverines to come out of the gates hot, thus putting further pressure on Alabama to put points on the board. That should result in the Tide forcing some highly-contested shots from beyond the arc.
Yaxel Lendeborg 15+ Points
I expect Lendeborg to have a massive game against a lackluster Alabama defense that's allowing upwards of 82 points per game to its opponents.
He's coming off an extremely dominant 25-point performance against Saint Louis in the second round, and I expect him to score 15 points with ease on Friday.
