Michigan State vs Michigan Odds, Picks, Predictions: Spartans to Cruise?

Let's take a look at the Michigan State Spartans vs. Michigan Wolverines odds and make a prediction for Saturday's Big Ten college basketball game.

The latest rendition of the Michigan State vs. Michigan rivalry will get underway Saturday in Ann Arbor when Tom Izzo's Spartans take on Juwan Howard's Wolverines.

Speculation that Howard and the Michigan program will part ways after the season is only growing louder, and with the way their season has played out, it comes as no surprise.

The Wolverines are down to 103rd in KenPom, and they have lost a whopping 17 games this season. Even more impressively, they have somehow never covered the spread in any of the 17 losses.

It has gotten worse as the season has progressed, as Michigan has now lost 12 of its last 14 games. Its last two losses last week came by a combined 49 points.

Michigan State is trending in the opposite direction, as Izzo teams tend to do at the end of the regular season.

The Spartans trampled the Wolverines by 19 points in East Lansing just three weeks ago, and that win began a stretch of four wins in their last five games. Michigan State has struggled on the road this season but just picked up its second road win in a wire-to-wire victory over Penn State on Wednesday.

Michigan State needs to avoid a bad loss for seeding purposes, and this would certainly qualify. Michigan would love to play spoiler to its rival here, but do the Wolverines have the firepower to get it done?

Let's take a closer look.

Michigan State has now won seven of its last nine games. After starting the season with very poor outside shooting that plagued them in a loss to James Madison, the Spartans have been on fire from behind the arc for much of the regular season.

The Spartans rank 28th in the country in 3-point shooting, making 37% of their shots from outside.

They have multiple threats from distance, specifically star Tyson Walker and the sharpshooting Jaden Akins. The latter has really come along lately, notably making four 3s in their last win over Penn State.

The defensive side is still where this team thrives. Michigan State ranks 21st in the nation on that end, and it has size and physicality at numerous positions. It held Michigan to just 62 points in the first meeting between these two teams.

Everything changes for Michigan when its star point guard is active. Dug McDaniel has missed the last five road games because of an academic suspension, including the first contest between these two rivals.

McDaniel will be back for this game, and with that comes hope that Michigan could steal one. Its last two conference wins came in Ann Arbor, one over a middling Ohio State team and one over a Wisconsin team that considers itself contenders.

With McDaniel in the lineup, this offense has some serious scoring prowess. The Wolverines shoot 36% from deep as a team, but McDaniel is the engine that makes them go. Unfortunately, he does not help at all defensively, where Michigan ranks just 180th in college basketball. This team just does not get enough stops to win games consistently.

Michigan and Michigan State have split this series every time Izzo and Howard have faced off, but it will take a special performance from Michigan to keep that trend rolling.

Until the Wolverines cover once in a loss, it is impossible to back them to get the job done. Lay the points with the Spartans.

Pick: Michigan State -6

The must-have app for college basketball bettors

The best NCAAB betting scoreboard

Free picks from proven pros

Live win probabilities for your bets

DOWNLOAD NOW