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Auburn entered the 2025 NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed for just the second time and the No. 1 Auburn Tigers look to turn that into their first NCAA Championship in program history. Next up, Auburn plays No. 5 seed Michigan Wolverines in the Sweet 16 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Friday. Auburn, under head coach Bruce Pearl, is the No. 1 overall seed in March Madness 2025 and is coming off a pair of double-digit victories. The Tigers (30-5) had a 20-point victory over Alabama State in the first round, followed by an 82-70 win over No. 9 seed Creighton in the second round. Meanwhile, Michigan (27-9) is coming off a 68-65 win over No. 12 UC San Diego in the first round before knocking off No. 4 seed Texas A&M, 91-79, in the second round to advance to its first Sweet 16 since 2022.
Tipoff for this Sweet 16 matchup is set for 9:39 p.m. ET from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga. Auburn is an 8.5-point favorite in the latest Auburn vs. Michigan odds from SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 153.5. Before making any Michigan vs. Auburn picks, be sure to check out the 2025 March Madness predictions from red-hot college basketball expert Larry Hartstein.
Hartstein is 17-6 (+1040) on his last 23 picks in Michigan games. In his last 104 against-the-spread college basketball picks in general, he has gone 61-43. Anyone following could have seen huge returns.
Now, Hartstein has set his sights on Michigan vs. Auburn and just locked in his Sweet 16 predictions. You can visit SportsLine now to see Hartstein’s picks. Here are the college basketball odds and lines for Auburn vs. Michigan:
- Michigan vs. Auburn spread: Auburn -8.5
- Michigan vs. Auburn over/under: 153.5 points
- Michigan vs. Auburn money line: Auburn -431, Michigan +329
- MICH: The Wolverines are 5-0 against the spread (ATS) in their last five games
- AUB: The Tigers are 6-4 ATS at neutral sites this season
- Michigan vs. Auburn picks: See picks at SportsLine
Why Michigan can cover
You’d never guess Michigan closed the regular season on a three-game losing streak with how the Wolverines performed in the Big Ten Tournament and during March Madness. Michigan won three straight in the Big Ten Tournament, capped off with a 59-53 victory over Wisconsin in the final, and four of their five postseason have been against ranked opponents. The Wolverines took out an SEC team in the second round with a 91-79 win over Texas A&M despite being 2-point underdogs and the Aggies were one of just five teams to knock off Auburn this year.
Michigan used a dominant second half to knock off Texas A&M, outscoring the Aggies 56-40 over the final 20 minutes. The Wolverines outscored Texas A&M 41-19 over the final 13:04 after trailing by 10 points in the second half. If Michigan falls behind early, the Wolverines clearly won’t lose confidence. Fifth-year 7-foot-1 senior center Vladislav Goldin averaged 16.8 points and 7.0 rebounds and the Wolverines will count on his size to contain Johni Broome. See which team to pick here.
Why Auburn can cover
Attempting to and actually containing Broome don’t always coincide, however. Some of the best teams in the nation have tried and failed all year in doing that, so even though Michigan has some size, it’ll still be a significant challenge. Broome, a unanimous first-team All-American selection, averages 18.4 points and 10.7 rebounds as a 6-10 fifth-year senior. Broome against Goldin will be a tremendous matchup, but after playing in the SEC all season, Broome is no stranger to going against size and strength.
The Tigers haven’t needed elite performances from Broome, who is averaging 11 points and 11.5 rebounds over the NCAA Tournament, but that will likely change on Friday. Auburn has the No. 6 scoring offense (83.8 ppg) in the nation with the seventh-best average scoring margin (+14.7) despite the challenging SEC schedule. Auburn has the seventh-best 3-point defense, holding teams to 29.6% from deep, in the nation against a Wolverines offense that ranked 200th in 3-point shooting. See which team to pick here.
How to make Michigan vs. Auburn picks
Hartstein is leaning Over on the total, but he’s also identified a critical X-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the spread in this Sweet 16 matchup. You can only get Hartstein’s picks at SportsLine.
So who wins Auburn vs. Michigan, and which side of the spread should you be jumping all over? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Michigan vs. Auburn spread to jump on, all from a red-hot college basketball expert that is on a 17-6 (+1040) run over his last 23 Michigan NCAA picks, and find out.
