Rutgers vs. Michigan college basketball odds: Bubble Wolverines without suspended Coach Juwan Howard, players Terrance Williams, Moussa Diabate

With all due respect to Aaron Rodgers and his cryptic Instagram account, the biggest story in sports this week has been surrounding Michigan coach Juwan Howard and how he struck a Wisconsin assistant following UM's loss to the Badgers on Sunday. Howard will begin his five-game suspension tonight when the Wolverines, also down suspended players Terrance Williams and Moussa Diabate, host fellow NCAA Tournament bubble team Rutgers. Michigan is -5 at Caesars Sportsbook.

Howard was suspended the rest of the regular season and fined $40,000 for hitting Wisconsin assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft in the face after Sunday's game. It was the second such embarrassing situation in Howard's Michigan coaching career as in the 2020-21 season he became enraged during a clash with then-Maryland coach Mark Turgeon with Turgeon claiming Howard yelled, "I'm gonna f---ing kill you." Clearly, Howard will be fired if he has another incident.

Diabate (9.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Williams (4.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg) are suspended for tonight's game only and will thin Michigan's depth in a huge game – former long-time St. Joseph's coach and Michigan assistant Phil Martelli takes over as interim head coach. Assistant coach Howard Eisley will serve as offensive coordinator in Howard's absence, Martelli said.

Michigan (14-11, 8-7) is listed among the "First Four Out" of the NCAA Tournament via CBS Sports' Jerry Palm and "Last Four In" by ESPN's Joe Lunardi, so a loss at home tonight would be crippling. Michigan still has to play No. 15 Illinois, rival Michigan State, No. 25 Iowa and No. 22 Ohio State. UM's NCAA NET ranking is 33.

Rutgers (16-10, 10-6 Big Ten) is listed as a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN despite a not-good NCAA NET ranking of 80 -- but among the "First Four Out" by CBS Sports. The Scarlet Knights had won four straight games, all against ranked teams (first unranked team in NCAA history to play four straight regular season games against ranked teams and win all four), before losing Sunday 84-72 at then-No. 5 Purdue.

Michigan is 14-1 all-time vs. Rutgers but lost in New Jersey 75-67 on Jan. 4. Seniors Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. led the way with 47 combined points for the Scarlet Knights, who led wire-to-wire. Their 11 three-pointers tied for the team's most in a Big Ten game. Williams and three other Michigan players were out in COVID protocols. Diabate had 15 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

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