UCLA vs. Michigan State: First Four Odds, March Madness Prediction
The Spartans opened as 1.5-point favourites on the college basketball odds with a total of 136.5.
UCLA vs. Michigan State NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
Usually, the First Four features small conference tournament champions or mid-major schools that barely snuck into the Big Dance – not blueblood programs like UCLA and Michigan State. It shocked many experts that they were ticketed for this game and not in the full field. West Lafayette, incidentally, is the campus of Purdue. All NCAA Tournament games are being held in or around the Indianapolis area; Purdue is about 65 miles from Indy. The winner would face No. 6 BYU on Saturday.
It’s the 11th all-time meeting between UCLA and Michigan State with the Bruins leading 6-4, but the Spartans having won the past two – most recently early in the 2019-20 season in Hawaii. The lone NCAA Tournament matchup between them was in 2011 when No. 7 UCLA beat No. 10 Michigan State 78-76. The underdog is 4-1-1 against the spread in the past six meetings.
(11) UCLA Bruins
UCLA (17-9) finished fourth in the Pac-12 regular-season standings and closed the season on a four-game losing streak. The Bruins would blow a 16-point lead in their Pac-12 Tournament opener and lose in overtime to Oregon State – the surprise tournament winner. It’s the first time UCLA will play in the First Four and 50th overall NCAA Tournament bid for the school – first since 2018.
Coach Mick Cronin’s best players are Tyger Campbell (first-team All-Pac-12) Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Johnny Juzang (both second-team All-Pac 12). Cronin is one of just five coaches in the nation to have led his teams to the past 10 consecutive NCAA Tournaments (previously with Cincinnati and not obviously counting 2020 when the Big Dance was cancelled).
(11) Michigan St Spartans
Michigan State’s Tom Izzo also is one of five coaches in the nation to have led his teams to the past 10 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. It’s the 23rd straight Big Dance appearance for the program, a Big Ten record, fourth-longest in history and second-longest active behind Kansas’ 31. Michigan State is making its 34th appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a record of 69-32 (.683). Sparty reached the Final Four of the 2019 event. At 15-12, this year’s team would perhaps be the most unlikely in school history to reach the Final Four.
The Spartans have highlight wins over Illinois, Michigan (both No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament) and Ohio State (No. 2) but those were all at home and the team also has some bad losses. Aaron Henry (15.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg), an Indianapolis native, is the club’s best player.
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