I do not plan to address much college basketball in my columns until the power leagues start their conference schedules. But Friday night offers an intriguing neutral-site matchup as No. 4 UConn takes on No. 16 Michigan. They have combined for three of the past four national championships in the sport and either could certainly win another come April.
Claim the best Kalshi promo code CBSSPORTS55, trade $25, and receive a $55 bonus here: It's an 8 p.m. ET neutral-site tip from TD Garden in Boston, so you'd think the Huskies would have the fan advantage but the Wolverines have big fan bases in pretty much in every major city. As 7.5-point favorites at DraftKings, UConn is taking around 75% of the tickets and handle.
There is split action on the total of 142.5, down two from the opener. Fans interested in college basketball betting can keep up with trends, news and follow our experts to be prepared before wagering at any of the top sports betting apps. Bet on NCAA hoops and more at DraftKings and get $200 in bonus bets plus three free months of NBA League Pass: Back in April, I could have made an easy argument that the two best coaches in this sport were UConn's Dan Hurley, who led his team to titles in 2023 and 2024, and Michigan's Dusty May, who won his first back in April at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Which team did UM beat 69-63? That was exactly seven months ago today on April 6. Hurley pretty much could have had any NBA job he wanted after that repeat title, and he reportedly rejected a six-year, $70 million offer from the Los Angeles Lakers.
You do hear the only NBA job Hurley would leave for is the New York Knicks. While there had long been chatter on Hurley going to the NBA, it was a pretty big shock when the Dallas Mavericks hired May last summer off his title. The Wolverines were set to bring back a ton of talent but also lost three players in the Top 12 picks in the 2026 NBA Draft in Morez Johnson Jr. (went to Dallas at No. 9), Yaxel Lendeborg (an utter steal for Golden State at No. 11) and Aday Mara (No. 12 to Oklahoma City).
May had ruled out all other college jobs last offseason but always had an eye toward the pros and became the first college head coach to take an NBA job since former Michigan coach John Beilein went to Cleveland in 2019. You can understand the allure, though, of the Mavs with Cooper Flagg and mega-rich owners in a major market. Michigan was caught off guard and pivoted to promoting assistant Mike Boynton Jr. to the top job, and he was running things this summer for a few weeks after May left.
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