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In a rematch of last year’s national championship, No. 8 Villanova will host No. 18 Michigan Friday night as part of the 2018 Gavitt Tipoff Games.
The game is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch a live stream of the game (or DVR it, or watch it on-demand) on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
Fox Sports 1 is included in the main Fubo bundle, which has 85-plus channels and is largely tailored towards sports fans. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch the game live on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of Cloud DVR (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours), as well as a “72-Hour Lookback” feature, which allows you to watch the game up to three days after it airs even if you forgot to record it.
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of live TV channels, including Fox Sports 1. You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch the game live on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, “Hulu with Live TV” also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
Fox Sports 1 is included in the “Sling Blue” package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch the game live on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on.
Preview
Though this is technically a rematch of last year’s national championship, which saw Villanova trounce Michigan for their second title in three years, both rosters are drastically different this season.
The Wildcats sent four players–Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVencenzo and Omari Spellman–from last year’s squad to the NBA. They still have two players–Eric Paschall and Phil Booth–who averaged double-digit scoring last season, but no one else scored more than 5.0 per contest
Michigan, meanwhile, lost Duncan Robinson and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman to graduation, while Moritz Wagner left early for the NBA draft. They return seven players, but those aforementioned three scored almost exactly half of their points a year ago.
“The expectations for a team that lost so many good players is probably way too high, and we’re not going to worry about them anyhow,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “I can’t let our guys worry about any hype, if we’re a nationally ranked team, or where they come out in the early stock. We’ve just got to try and get better.”
Despite the roster turnover, both teams are off to a 2-0 start to the season, but neither has faced much of a challenge thus far. The Wildcats opened the year with a 100-77 win over Morgan State and a 86-53 win over Quinnipiac, while the Wolverines have knocked off Norfolk State by a score of 63-44 and Holy Cross, 56-37.
As such, Wednesday’s matchup serves as an important early litmus test for where both teams stand.
Villanova, playing on their home court, are favored by seven, but the Wolverines will be looking to get revenge for last year.
“I definitely still recall walking off the court and hearing all the Villanova fans going crazy and saying, ‘Villanova national champs,'” Michigan guard Jordan Poole said. “It has kind of sat in the back of my mind and it’s just fuel to the fire. Isaiah (Livers) and me talk about it. We want it really bad. I mean, I don’t even know how to describe it.”
Ultimately, even with the new rosters, a national championship rematch will never not be interesting. Throw in the compelling matchup of Villanova’s elite offense (third in the nation in Ken Pomeroy’s effeciency ratings) vs Michigan’s lockdown defense (sixth in Pomeroy’s ratings), and this is a must-watch battle.