The Duke Blue Devils take on the Michigan State Spartans. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Duke Michigan State prediction and pick. Find how to watch Duke Michigan State.

The Duke Blue Devils and Michigan State Spartans are two traditional basketball powers, two schools which annually expect to be very good if not great in the sport. The Sweet 16 is a bare minimum expectation, essentially the floor for these programs every year. The Final Four is the true expectation. These schools are supposed to be in the hunt for the Final Four every season, or at least every four out of five years with an allowance for an occasional year which slips through the cracks.

With that in mind, this game is bigger than these two schools might have anticipated before the season began. The reasoning is simple: Both teams already lost a game in the first week of the new campaign. It's true that Duke's loss was much less damaging or humiliating than Michigan State's defeat. Yet, both teams know that the loser here will have two losses in the first nine days of the season, not what a team can afford if pursuing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Duke lost at home to Arizona on Friday in a tough, competitive game. Duke didn't get enough from its full roster, which — against an elite opponent such as Arizona — gets punished. The Blue Devils need an all-hands-on-deck approach in this game in which all their stars show up. They can't have their best players go silent for long stretches.

Michigan State suffered an embarrassing loss to James Madison last week. JMU is a good mid-major team, but Michigan State has no business losing that kind of game on its home floor in the Breslin Center. The obvious and huge flaw for MSU through two games is that the Spartans can't shoot, particularly from 3-point range. They have been absolutely terrible, becoming one of the worst shooting teams in the country in one week. The sample size is small, but the point remains: If MSU can't shoot well against James Madison, what will the Spartans look like against Duke?

This is the first game of the annual Champions Classic, the two-game mid-November event involving Duke, Michigan State, Kansas, and Kentucky. The event rotates between Indianapolis and Chicago. This year is a Chicago event with the Blue Devils and Spartans first up on Tuesday. Kansas and Kentucky follow in the nightcap of the big doubleheader.

Here are the Duke-Michigan State College Basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.

College Basketball Odds: Duke-Michigan State Odds

Duke Blue Devils: -3.5 (-115)

Michigan State Spartans: +3.5 (-105)

Over: 142.5 (-110)

Under: 142.5 (-110)

How To Watch Duke vs Michigan State

Time: 7:00 pm ET / 4:00 pm PT

TV: ESPN

Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why Duke Could Cover the Spread

The Blue Devils have played Arizona, a Final Four-level team. Michigan State has not played a team remotely comparable to the Wildcats. Getting an elite test from Arizona should prepare Duke extremely well for this game against a bad-shooting Michigan State squad. The Blue Devils learned a lot about themselves and will be ready to go in Chicago.

Why Michigan State Could Cover the Spread

The Spartans simply can't shoot this poorly every game, right? The laws of averages are bound to even out, and as soon as this team hits 3-point shots, it will look — and play — so much better than what we have seen in the first week of the season. Michigan State will play with urgency after the bad first week. Tom Izzo will outcoach Duke's second-year coach, Jon Scheyer.

Final Duke-Michigan State Prediction & Pick

The value of Duke having played Arizona as an early test before this game cannot be overstated. Duke should play really well, while Michigan State is much harder to figure out. Take Duke.

Final Duke-Michigan State Prediction & Pick: Duke -3.5