Michigan vs Washington Prediction 1/12/25 College Basketball Picks Today

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

Washington Huskies Betting Preview

The Huskies opened up their 2024-25 season on a pretty solid run, but they’ve been a little choppy since then amid some tough matchups. Washington lost just one of their first seven games versus Nevada. Otherwise, it was wins over UC Davis, Seattle Pacific, UMass Lowell, Alcorn State, Colorado State, and Santa Clara. A 2-3 stretch came after that, featuring wins over Eastern Washington and Washington State amid losses to UCLA, USC, and Seattle U. Since then it’s been a 2-2 run with wins over NJIT and Maryland ahead of losses to Michigan State and Illinois for a 10-6 overall record for the Huskies so far this season.

In the Michigan State game back on Thursday, the Huskies came out of the break looking up at an ugly 42-13 deficit on the scoreboard. Washington was outscored 46-41 from there during a blowout loss 88-54. Tops in scoring (and the only team player to finish in double-figures) was Tyler Harris with 14 points and three rebounds. Zoom Diallo added eight points with two rebounds, while Luis Kortright came off the bench for seven points, six assists, and two rebounds in 25 minutes of work on the floor during the defeat.

Michigan Wolverines Betting Preview

Over on the Wolverines’ side, they kicked off their season with a win over Cleveland State, then fell to Wake Forest in game two. Michigan hit a nice win streak over TCU, Miami Ohio, Tarleton State, Virginia Tech, Xavier, Wisconsin, and Iowa in the next seven outings, then took consecutive losses versus Arkansas and Oklahoma. Since then Michigan has been on a nice four-game win streak. Those victories have come courtesy of Fort Wayne, Western Kentucky, USC, and UCLA in succession, giving the Wolverines a 12-3 overall record so far this year.

In the UCLA matchup, the Wolverines held a 10-point edge by the break. Michigan kept it rolling in the second half, posting a 47-38 run for a 94-75 win in the end. Tops in scoring was Vladislav Goldin with 36 points, seven boards, and two assists. Tre Donaldson added 20 points with six rebounds, seven assists, and two steals. Nimari Burnett posted 17 points with four assists and four rebounds alongside two steals in 37 minutes of work during the victory. Michigan will meet Minnesota, Northwestern, and Purdue after this game. 

Why the Michigan Wolverines will win

• Washington has lost each of its last 16 day games against AP-ranked opponents.
• Michigan has won each of its last seven games at Crisler Center.
• Michigan has won the first half in each of its last 11 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Washington Huskies will win

• Michigan has lost four of its last five day games against the Big Ten Conference at Crisler Center.
• Washington has won three of its last four games following a road loss.
• Michigan has lost the first half in 10 of its last 13 games against the Big Ten Conference.

Michigan vs Washington Prediction

I’ll lean toward Michigan. If the Wolverines can put together another complete game like they did against UCLA here, everything should work out well. Michigan shot a stellar 61.5 percent from the field with 15-of-28 (53.6 percent) from 3-point range and a 35-27 rebounding edge in that one. The only real blemish was the 16 turnovers for 20 Bruins points. Provided Michigan can cut down those mistakes (and maybe get a little more production from the bench this time) they’ll be tough to beat. Michigan has been scoring great lately. They’ve hit 85 or more points in seven straight games—a 5-2 overall run.

As for Washington, they were blitzed by Michigan State from the very beginning in their latest loss. The Huskies mustered just 13 first-half points in that defeat, eventually posting 32.7 percent shooting from the field, 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from outside, a 40-30 rebounding deficit, and 15 turnovers for 13 Spartans points. Washington has given up a combined 169 points across their last two games, but to be fair those have come against a couple of tough teams. Michigan will be another difficult matchup (and there are more ranked teams coming up in Purdue, Oregon, and UCLA). I don’t quite think the Huskies will get there cover-wise, so I’ll stick with the Wolverines here.