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Jeremy Perry
USC vs. Michigan State Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The NCAA Tournament is filled with all sorts of fascinating storylines. It’s impossible to ignore or avoid the reality that USC, which will move into the Big Ten in the summer of 2024, will play a Big Ten team, Michigan State, in a Big Ten city – Columbus, Ohio – which is home to one of the football powerhouses the Trojans will have to deal with in the future. Tom Izzo makes his 25th straight NCAA Tournament appearance with Michigan State, a demonstration of great consistency. Can Michigan State get on a roll and make a run this March? It has happened before under Izzo.
USC Trojans vs. Michigan St. Spartans NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
USC is just 5-7 as an underdog this season, although they are 7-5 ATS in those games. They have been competitive against teams with a winning record, going 12-7 both SU and ATS. Looking at the total, the under 12-6 in the Trojans last 18 games.
Rest oddly hasn’t been that kind to the Spartans. They have yet to win a game this season (or cover) when they’ve had five or six days to rest. Taking a look at the total, the over has hit in five of their last six games.
USC Trojans (10)
The Trojans gave up more than a dozen offensive rebounds to Arizona State in their Pac-12 Tournament loss last week. USC really missed backup big man Vince Iwuchukwu, a five-star recruit who has played limited minutes this season after suffering a cardiovascular incident (cardiac arrest) last July during a summer workout. Iwuchukwu had made some noticeable contributions to USC in February as he began to get into a rhythm and adjust to the speed of the college game as a freshman. However, he missed the Arizona State game with back problems and is questionable for this game against Michigan State. If he can’t play, USC big men Joshua Morgan and Kijani Wright will need to give the Trojans a solid rebounding presence against a Michigan State team which does not rebound the ball as well as coach Tom Izzo’s MSU teams normally do (and normally have in the past).
USC will also turn to its top scorer, Boogie Ellis, for production in this game. Ellis scored 35 against Arizona on March 2 and then 28 against Arizona State on March 4. This will be his last NCAA Tournament with USC. He hopes to go out in style … and delay his last game so that the Trojans can go deeper into the tournament.
Michigan State Spartans (7)
The Spartans did not shoot particularly well in their Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal loss to Ohio State. When this team does not shoot well and does not score consistently, it gets into big trouble. Tyson Walker is the main engine of the offense. If Michigan State gets a big game from him, it should feel confident about its chances, but the concern for the Spartans is that if Walker is not on top of his game and is not in rhythm, the margin for error noticeably shrinks for Michigan State.
Michigan State teams under Tom Izzo are usually strong on defense and in their ability to rebound. This team is not. This team runs through its offense and depends on its ability to score efficiently. A bad game from MSU’s top scorers is going to be very hard to overcome.
