Tuesday’s college basketball slate features two ranked teams facing off. The second matchup between two top-25 teams is No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 21 Auburn at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. For the second straight year, the Wolverines face the Tigers, with Auburn winning last year’s matchup 78-65. Michigan has started the season 5-0 and beat San Diego State 94-54 in its first game at the Players Era Festival, while Auburn picked up an 84-73 victory over Oregon yesterday.
Michigan is a -4.5-point favorite with Auburn being a +190 underdog on DraftKings Sportsbook in tonight’s matchup. Here is my best bet for tonight’s matchup between Auburn vs. Michigan.
Auburn vs. Michigan (8:30 p.m. ET)
Michigan brought in an elite transfer class led by Yaxel Lenderborg from UAB, who averages 15 points per contest with 7.4 rebounds. Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara, and Elliot CadeauĀ are the other three top players Michigan added from the transfer portal. The Wolverines are ranked No. 5 on KenPom and have the second-best defensive rating in college basketball. They only allowed 63, 61, and 54 points in their previous three contests. Auburn is ranked 19th, with the 15th-highest offense, but has the 42nd defense.
Keshawn Hall, a transfer from UCF, leads Auburn, who averages 22.2 and is one of five players scoring double digits. Tahaad Pettiford is coming off a 24-point performance, a season high against Oregon. He has been up and down this season, but when Pettiford is at his best, he elevates Auburn’s ceiling.
Auburn’s lone loss this season was by one point against No. 3 Houston. Hall will likely be matched up with Lenderborg tonight and must limit his production. Auburn has shown it possesses an elite offense this season, with four games of 93 or more points. Michigan has a fantastic defense, but Auburn has top-tier talent and depth to compete with them.
This season, Michigan has faced three above-average opponents: Wake Forest, TCU, and San Diego State. In two of those matchups, the Wolverines won by only one and two points. With that said, I’m taking Auburn to cover the spread of +4.5 at -108 on DraftKings Sportsbook.
