March Madness Hopeful: Michigan State

The Michigan State Spartans are pretty much in the NCAA tournament right now, but they’re far from a lock of making the field of 68. The Spartans are No. 46 in the most recent RPI, one sport behind California, which sits at 45, and one spot ahead of Vanderbilt, who is sitting at No. 47.

Michigan State fares a little better with Jeff Sagarin, who has Michigan State ranked No. 42. The Spartans have a key home game Sunday with Wisconsin, but play their final two on the road. Michigan State is just 1-6 against teams in the top 25, but 5-8 against teams in the top 50.

Most projections have the Spartans entering the tournament as a No. 10 seed, but a lot of that is going to be determined by their final three games. A 1-2 record and an early exit from the Big 10 tournament could leave them on the outside looking in. Much of that will depend on some of the “bubble” teams and what they do to finish the season.

From a betting standpoint, the Spartans have gotten the job done when they are supposed to. Michigan State is 14-2 straight-up when favored and 11-5 against the spread. The Spartans are just 2-8 and 3-7 when underdogs. The Spartans are 6-1 in totals when on the road, but just 1-5 when at a neutral site. Michigan State has played its best at home, outscoring opponents by 11.4 points. On the road the Spartans are outscored by 7.9 points per game.

The Spartans picked-up a key win on Thursday in a game that a lot of the wise guys were on the Cornhuskers. Michigan State opened as 6.5-point favorites at Bookmaker and went off as 4-point favorites, but put the game out of reach near the end of the first half. The Spartans closed the half on a 21-5 run and were never threatened in the second half.