Michigan vs Rutgers Prediction 2/27/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Michigan Wolverines meet Thursday in college basketball action from Crisler Center. Here’s a Michigan vs Rutgers prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Michigan vs Rutgers pick.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights Betting Preview

The Knights have had a middling year so far amid a pretty tough schedule, and it’s given them a .500 record on the season. Rutgers opened the year on a pretty decent 8-5 run, taking wins over Wagner, Saint Peter’s, Monmouth, Merrimack, Notre Dame, Penn State, Seton Hall and Columbia with losses to Kennesaw State, Alabama, Texas A&M, Ohio State and Princeton otherwise. After losses to Indiana, Wisconsin and Purdue, the Scarlet Knights posted a 5-3 run that featured wins over UCLA, Nebraska, Northwestern and Illinois. After three more losses versus Maryland, Iowa and Oregon, Rutgers has since taken out Washington and USC in consecutive games. The Knights have mustered a 14-14 overall run through 28 games so far.

In the USC matchup on Sunday, the Knights were up 44-39 going into the second half. Rutgers kept it up from there on a 51-46 stretch and took the win in the end 95-85. Leading the team in scoring was Dylan Harper on 25 points with nine assists, two rebounds and six steals. Ace Bailey added 14 points with three rebounds and three assists, while Lathan Sommerville had 10 points with three rebounds in 21 minutes of work. Tops off the bench was Jamichael Davis, who chipped in with 13 points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist in 15 minutes.

Michigan Wolverines Betting Preview

Over on the Michigan side, they’ve looked quite good all season, with only a couple instances of (brief) spotty runs in the record column. The Wolverines opened on an 8-1 stretch with wins over Cleveland State, TCU, Miami OH, Tarleton State, Virginia Tech, Xavier, Wisconsin and Iowa. After losses to Arkansas and Oklahoma came wins over Fort Wayne, Western Kentucky, USC, UCLA and Washington. A 1-2 run came next with losses to Minnesota and Purdue, then wins over Penn State, Rutgers, Oregon, Indiana, Purdue and Ohio State. After another loss to Michigan State, Michigan powered out a win over Nebraska on the road. That gives the Wolverines a 21-6 overall record across 27 games so far this season.

Matched up against Nebraska on Monday, the Wolverines held a 25-21 halftime edge. Michigan was outscored 25-24 in the second half but managed to hang on for the victory 49-46 in the end. Roddy Gayle led the team with his 12 points and five rebounds, while Vladislav Goldin had eight points with 10 rebounds. Danny Wolf managed to notch a double-double in the win with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two assists, while Tre Donaldson added 11 points with eight boards, four assists and two steals in 33 minutes of work on the floor.

Why the Michigan Wolverines will win

• Michigan has won each of its last 11 games at Crisler Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Rutgers has lost six of its last seven games against AP-ranked opponents.
• Michigan has won the first half in 10 of its last 11 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Rutgers Scarlet Knights will win

• Michigan has lost each of its last eight Thursday games against the Big Ten Conference.
• Rutgers has won four of its last five night games.
• Rutgers has won the first half in each of its last five night games against the Big Ten Conference.

Michigan vs Rutgers Prediction

I’ll take a stab on Rutgers here. The Knights pulled off a pretty solid home win versus a potentially dangerous USC team in their last outing, hitting a nice 55.6 percent from the field and 26-of-28 (92.9 percent) from the line. Rutgers did get outfoxed on the boards 34-27 but also scored 22 points off 16 Trojans turnovers. The Knights were pretty sloppy with the ball themselves however, posting 13 turnovers for 20 points on the other side.

These teams last saw each other back on February 1 in a 66-63 home win for the Wolverines. Rutgers was competitive on the boards in that one but shot just 32.8 percent from the field and had 12 turnovers for 14 Wolverines points. Michigan is coming off their lowest-scoring victory (49) in 17 years at Nebraska, and they’ve hit a bit of a scoring slump over the last pair with a combined 111 points. If Rutgers can play a physical, defensive game here—and control the turnovers—I think they’ve got a shot.