Ohio State vs Michigan Prediction 2/16/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes meet Sunday in college basketball action from Value City Arena. Here’s an Ohio State vs Michigan prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Ohio State vs Michigan pick.

Michigan Wolverines Betting Preview

The Wolverines have a couple of very brief rough spots in the record column so far this year. Overall, however, Michigan is doing quite well against tough competition. An 8-1 start awaited the Wolverines over their first nine outings, with a lone loss to Wake Forest amid wins versus Cleveland State, TCU, Miami Ohio, Tarleton State, Virginia Tech, Xavier, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Consecutive losses to Arkansas and Oklahoma followed, then came wins over Fort Wayne, Western Kentucky, USC, UCLA, and Washington. Michigan went 1-2 over the next three with a win over Northwestern in between losses to Minnesota and Purdue. Since then it’s been wins over Penn State, Rutgers, Oregon, Indiana, and Purdue in succession. That gives the Wolverines a 19-5 overall record through their first 24 games of the year.

In the Purdue game on Tuesday, the Wolverines were down by two points at the break. Michigan hit a 40-36 run the rest of the way however, eventually pulling out the win 75-73 in dramatic fashion. Leading team scorer Danny Wolf posted 15 points with nine rebounds and two assists. Both Vladislav Goldin (five rebounds; three steals) and Tre Donaldson (three rebounds) chipped in 12 points apiece, and Roddy Gayle led the bench scoring with his 14 points, seven boards and two assists in 27 minutes of work on the floor.

Ohio State Buckeyes Betting Preview

Over on the Ohio State side, they’ve got a couple of choppy runs in the books so far but overall they’re not doing too badly either. The Buckeyes went 6-4 over their first 10 games, taking out Texas, Youngstown State, Evansville, Campbell, Green Bay, and Rutgers among losses to Texas A&M, Pitt, Maryland, and Auburn. Ohio State beat Valparaiso, Kentucky, Indiana State, and Minnesota over the next five (with a loss to Michigan State), then lost to Oregon, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Since then it’s been a 5-2 run with losses to only Illinois and Nebraska. The wins otherwise have been over Purdue, Iowa, Penn State, Maryland and Washington. Through 25 games this year, Ohio State has carved out a 15-10 overall record.

Matched up against Washington in their Wednesday game, the Buckeyes came out of the break with a 51-36 edge. Ohio State hit a 42-33 run the rest of the way and took the eventual win 93-69. John Mobley (two rebounds; two assists) and Micah Parrish (seven rebounds; three assists) led the way with 21 points apiece. Bruce Thornton added 17 points with four rebounds and five assists, while Aaron Bradshaw posted 12 points with three rebounds.

Why the Ohio State Buckeyes will win

• Ohio State has won each of its last six day games against the Big Ten Conference at Value City Arena at Schottenstein Center.
• Ohio State has won the first half in each of its last nine day games at Value City Arena at Schottenstein Center.

Why the Michigan Wolverines will win

• Michigan has won each of its last seven day games.
• Ohio State has lost four of its last five day games against AP-ranked opponents.
• Michigan has won the first half in 16 of its last 18 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Total Points Facts

• Seventeen of the last 18 games between Michigan and Ohio State have produced a total of 146 or fewer points.
• Four of Michigan’s last five games against Conference opponents have produced a total of 148 or fewer points.

Ohio State vs Michigan Prediction

I’m going to take a stab at Ohio State. The Buckeyes are fresh off a dominant win versus a middling Washington team, posting a nice 58.2 percent shooting with a 34-22 rebounding edge and 18-of-22 (81.8 percent) from the line. The 14 turnovers were just about the only blemish to speak of in that home victory. Ohio State has now gone 5-2 in their last seven games amid some difficult teams, scoring 71 or more points in each of those outings.

As for Michigan, they were able to dispatch a talented Purdue team in their last matchup thanks to 44.6 percent shooting. The Wolverines did give up 11 turnovers for 14 Boilermakers points, though. Michigan has won five straight themselves with 70 or more points in four of those. Ohio State is in for a tough matchup here, even in a home game. The Buckeyes are going to have to minimize their mistakes and get off to a quick start in order to keep pace. I like a highly entertaining game on Sunday as the Buckeyes power out an eventual cover. It’ll be a good one to watch regardless.