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It's time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Wisconsin-Michigan State prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Wisconsin-Michigan State.
There is plenty of Big Ten college basketball on Sunday's slate. The Big Ten championship race comes into focus on the first Sunday of March in East Lansing.
Michigan State has been a great program on many occasions under coach Tom Izzo. One of the more remarkable streaks Izzo had created earlier in his tenure in East Lansing was that every senior class had been to at least one Final Four. Michigan State made the Final Four from 1999 through 2001, then 2005, then 2009. It wasn't until 2014 — nearly 20 years into his tenure at Michigan State — that Izzo finally had a senior class which did not make the Final Four. When Michigan State then reached the Final Four in 2015 and 2019, Izzo began a new streak of senior classes playing in at least one Final Four. The 2023 and 2024 classes did not make it, but every class from 2012 through 2022 was part of at least one Final Four.
Izzo is now intent on starting yet another new streak. If he can become the Big Ten champion, Izzo can guide Michigan State to a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament, perhaps as high as a No. 2 seed. The Spartans are battling archrival Michigan for the Big Ten crown, and this Wisconsin game will go a long way toward determining which team is more likely to come away with the trophy in this final week of the Big Ten regular season.
Izzo and Wisconsin's Greg Gard have both done brilliant coaching jobs this season. Now they go head to head in early March. This is the good stuff. This is a great lead-in to the rest of March Madness.
Here are the Wisconsin-Michigan State College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Wisconsin-Michigan State Odds
Wisconsin: +4.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +162
Michigan State: -4.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -196
Over: 146.5 (-110)
Under: 146.5 (-110)
How to Watch Wisconsin vs Michigan State
Time: 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT
TV: CBS
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why Wisconsin Will Cover The Spread/Win
Wisconsin is a really good team with a really good offense. The Badgers used to have a clunky and unreliable offense, but this season, they can score. They have balance. They can get to the free throw line. They can play inside or outside. They have multiple legitimate scoring options and can attack from different angles and can score from different spots on the floor. There is a lot the Michigan State defense will have to account for, and over the course of 40 minutes, it is an open question if the Spartans will be able to defend the full court as well as they need to in order to win the game. Wisconsin has the legitimately superior offense in this matchup and will be able to get the clutch bucket when it absolutely needs one.
Why Michigan State Will Cover The Spread/Win
Michigan State is a very tough and resilient team. We saw Michigan State battle back from a big deficit to win on the road at Illinois. We saw Michigan State take over late in the game against Michigan on the road. When challenged this season, Michigan State has usually risen to the occasion, and it has often done so away from home. Now, MSU gets to play a season-defining championship basketball game at home in front of the Izzone and a partisan crowd at the Breslin Center. It's exactly where MSU wants to be. The Spartans will play with maximum defensive intensity, and they will be able to gump up the Badgers' humming offensive machine en route to a seven-point win, which would cover the spread.
Final Wisconsin-Michigan State Prediction & Pick
This feels very much like a coin flip. It's a game in which you should wait to make a late-second half live bet, because we don't think either team will run away with it in the first 30 minutes.
Final Wisconsin-Michigan State Prediction & Pick: Wisconsin +4.5
