Michigan Wolverines vs Columbia Lions Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 2

No. 2 Michigan already owns a win over UConn, and Thursday it walks into Levien Gymnasium for its first road game of the season. Columbia is 3-0, and Riley Weiss is coming off a 28-point night on the road at Belmont.

The Matchup

Michigan has the best win in the country so far. The Wolverines are 2-0, beating UConn 77-66 and Wright State 109-52, both at home, scoring 93.0 points per game and allowing 59.0. Olivia Olson scored 19 points with 8 rebounds and 4 assists against UConn in 38 minutes, then scored 19 more against Wright State, and Te'Yala Delfosse scored 22 points with 9 rebounds against UConn. Olson and Delfosse carry no injury designations for Thursday.

Columbia is 3-0 with a road win that matters. The Lions beat Davidson 71-65 at home, then went to Nashville and beat Rhode Island 76-62 and Belmont 84-64 at the Opening Statement event, scoring 77.0 points per game and allowing 63.7. Riley Weiss has scored 57 points in three games, 28 of them at Belmont with 5 three-pointers, Mary Ashley Stevenson has scored 49, and Fliss Henderson has pulled down 35 rebounds, at least 10 in every game. Weiss, Stevenson and Henderson carry no injury designations for Thursday.

Last season sets the weight class. Michigan went 28-7, scoring 82.3 points per game and allowing 62.6, and Columbia went 25-8, scoring 71.8 and allowing 58.7, an Ivy League power that wins with defense and rebounding.

The honest read on the new season is that the two 3-0 and 2-0 starts were built in different worlds: Michigan has already beaten the No. 4 team in the country, while Columbia's best win came at Belmont. What Columbia does have is a veteran shape: its scoring, rebounding and defense are coming from the same core in every game.

Key Factors

This is Michigan's first road game of the season, and Levien Gymnasium is a particular kind of road game: small, loud, and right on top of the court. Columbia won its only game in the building this season, against Davidson, and a team that rebounds the way Henderson rebounds, 10, 12 and 13 boards in three games, can keep a more talented visitor from running away by ending possessions and starting its own offense late in the clock.

The second factor is Weiss. A scorer who can put up 28 on the road against a good mid-major gives an underdog the one thing it cannot scheme its way to: a player who can trade baskets when the favorite makes its run. Michigan will send Olson and its length at her, and Olson is a genuine two-way problem with 9 steals in two games, but Columbia's scoring does not die with one player: Stevenson has scored in double figures every night and Mia Broom has 13 assists and 10 steals for the week.

The counterpoint is Michigan's ceiling, and it is high. The Wolverines beat UConn by 11 with Olson playing 38 minutes and Delfosse blocking shots all over the floor, and their size at every position is something Columbia simply has not seen. If Michigan's defense turns Columbia's guards over the way it turned the game against Wright State, 109-52, this spread is reachable by halftime. The bet is that a first road trip, a veteran home team and a hot scorer keep Columbia inside the number.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.