The Maryland Terrapins take on the Michigan Wolverines. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Maryland Michigan prediction and pick.

Michigan fans are lamenting the loss to TCU in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl, but Wolverine fans have a lot to be concerned about in college basketball, now that their football team's season is over. The Wolverines were obliterated by 25 points by Arizona State. They just lost at home to Central Michigan. They did not win the really big nonconference games on their schedule against Kentucky and North Carolina. They have swung and missed a lot this season. This is a big challenge for the Wolverines and a very necessary game for them — if they lose, they will only dig a bigger hole for themselves and will reduce their margin for error in the coming months. Michigan has to begin stacking some wins to ensure that it won't have to go on a six- or seven-game winning streak in late February or early March. The Wolverines have to get on a roll now and give themselves a cushion. Right now, they don't have one.

Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Maryland-Michigan College Basketball odds.

College Basketball Odds: Maryland-Michigan Odds

Maryland Terrapins: +0.5 (-110)

Michigan Wolverines: -0.5 (-110)

Over: 144.5 (-110)

Under: 144.5 (-110)

Why Maryland Could Cover the Spread

The Michigan basketball season has been a noticeable disappointment. Injuries have been a factor, but this team has elite big man Hunter Dickinson and simply hasn't been able to give him much of any help. Even with the injuries in the picture, there is absolutely no excuse for losing at home to Central Michigan. The Wolverines have not meshed as a team this season. The chemistry they had two seasons ago when they got a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament was impossible to ignore. Now this team is struggling with the simplest tasks. Maryland has been struggling, but Michigan is — one could argue — in an empirically worse position right now and is playing worse ball than the Terps are. Maryland coach Kevin Willard has had time over the holidays to rethink how he will organize his team. Maryland is in position to regroup and put forth a better effort than what we have seen in recent weeks. Maryland did play really well earlier in the season, beating Illinois and coming up with a series of strong defensive performances. The Terps can lock down a Michigan offense which plainly struggled to score against Central Michigan.

Why Michigan Could Cover the Spread

Michigan has had some rocky moments, but if you study Hunter Dickinson, he has had a great career against Maryland. Dickinson has thrived in head-to-head meetings against the Terrapins, and that can be the central core component of a strong Wolverine performance in this game. We also have to note that Maryland has just not been a good team over the past few weeks. The Terps completely no-showed against UCLA in mid-December, and that was after their offense collapsed in a 59-point performance against Wisconsin. Maryland played well in November but has not been nearly as good in recent weeks. Michigan can take advantage of Maryland's rut and make sure the Terps don't escape it — at least not in this game.

Final Maryland-Michigan Prediction & Pick

Michigan will probably keep this game close throughout, but Maryland is a better team and should ultimately win over the cratering Wolverines.

Final Maryland-Michigan Prediction & Pick: Maryland +0.5