March Madness 2026: Alabama Opens as Underdog to Michigan

Mar 22, 2026; Tampa, FL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (3) celebrates after a play against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the second half during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images Last Sunday, the Alabama Crimson Tide pulled off one of the biggest whoopin’s in March Madness history, defeating the 5-seed Texas Tech Red Raiders by nearly 30 points (it would have been worse if the Tide wasn’t putting in the walk-ons for the last little bit), despite Alabama playing the tournament without star guard Aden Holloway.

Now, they advance to face the Michigan Wolverines, who destroyed Howard and Saint Louis by 21 and 23 points, respectively. The Wolverines are an absurd 33-3 this year and entered the tournament as the #3 overall team (and one of their losses this year was to #1 overall Duke). In other words, they’re really, really good.

Now, just how much better than Alabama are they? According to FanDuel’s sportsbook, the Wolverines are favored by -10. 5 .

If anything, Alabama’s hot hand Sunday against TTU likely gave them some bump in the betting. Still, if you think the Tide will keep rolling, it’s a pretty hefty spread that they’ll have a good shot at covering. The game tips off on Friday evening at 6:35 p.