Michigan State Spartans Final Four Betting Preview
Written March 31, 2009 by Steve Janus
The Spartans became just the 2nd team in the tournament to knock off a No. 1 seed when they beat the Louisville Cardinals outright as 7-point underdogs last Sunday, 64-52. That victory improved Michigan State’s record to 9-0 all-time as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Bet Michigan State in the Final Four and get up to 145% in total signup bonuses!
This is the 5th Final Four appearance for Michigan State in the past 11 years, the most in college basketball during that period of time. The college basketball betting community has been seeing green by following the Spartans throughout the tournament as Izzo and company have covered the spread in each of their four games this year. Prior to beating Louisville, they knocked off last year’s champ, Kansas, 69-64 as 1-point favorites. The Spartans also managed to take care of business in the first and second rounds of the tourney, winning and covering against both Robert Morris and USC.
As great as the Spartans have been against the spread in the tournament, this was not the case during the regular season, where Michigan State never covered the spread in more than three consecutive games. Michigan State was heavily favored to win the Big Ten Conference Tournament heading into the event (-120 to win at the start of the tourney), but were knocked off in the second round by Ohio State, who were 8 point underdogs at the time. That game may have motivated the Spartans more than anything else and helped put together their impressive tournament run.
The team is lead on the floor by guard Kalin Lucas, who is the top scorer on the team, averaging 14.6 points per game. Serbian Center, Goran Suton won the Midwest Region’s Most Outstanding Player award for the Spartans after scoring a combined 39 points and grabbing 19 rebounds in Michigan State’s victories over Kansas and Louisville. To add to their balanced attack, the Spartans also boast the Big Ten’s player of the year in Travis Walton.
The Spartans Advance If: They take care of the ball and play at their own pace. Lucas needs to do what he does best and take care of the ball. The Michigan State defense has been great this season throughout the tournament, but Suton will have his hands full against UConn center, Hasheem Thabeet. If Suton can force the big Huskie to take shots out of the paint, they put themselves in an even better position to win. Michigan State plays Connecticut on Saturday, April 4th in Detroit at 6:07 PM EST. The Spartans are 4-point underdogs.
Get winning college basketball picks from our experts during the Final Four and the championship game right here at Betfirms. Bet sure to check our NCAA basketball spreads daily to see if there are any major line moves.
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