Davidson vs. Michigan St Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
The final first-round West Region game of the 2022 NCAA Tournament features No. 10 Davidson taking on No. 7 Michigan State on Friday night. The Spartans are just 1-point favourites to win on the college basketball odds.
Davidson vs. Michigan NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this West Region matchup between No. 10 Davidson and No. 7 Michigan State from Greenville, S.C., will almost surely play No. 2 Duke on Sunday in the same location. If it’s Sparty, it would be the final matchup between Hall of Fame coaches Tom Izzo and Mike Krzyzewski, two legends of March.
Since 1985, No. 7 seeds are 87-57 against No. 10s. There has been only one tournament in that span where No. 7 seeds were swept by 10s and that was in 1999. Just twice have the No. 7s swept: 1993 and 2007. Last year, two 10s won: Maryland over Connecticut and Rutgers over Clemson. There might have been a third, but No. 7 Oregon was given a no-contest win over No. 10 VCU because the Rams had COVID issues.
Davidson and Michigan State have never played. To win the West, the Wildcats are +4877 and the Spartans +2886.
Davidson Wildcats (10)
Davidson (27-6) was the regular-season champion of the Atlantic 10 but then had to sweat Selection Sunday a bit after losing in the conference tournament final to Richmond, which definitely stole a bid from another team. It’s the 15th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance for Steph Curry’s alma mater and 10th under head coach Bob McKillop. The Wildcats last made it in 2018 and lost in the first round to Kentucky. They are 8-15 all-time in the tournament.
The big storyline for this game revolves around Davidson point guard and leading scorer Foster Loyer (16.3 ppg). The former touted recruit spent the past three seasons at Michigan State but never was a major contributor and transferred. Loyer was named second-team All-Atlantic 10 this season, while teammate Luka Brajkovic (14.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg) was the conference’s Player of the Year. Davidson is 4-1 ATS in its past five as an underdog.
Michigan St Spartans (7)
This is not one of Izzo’s better teams so another Final Four run would be a surprise. Michigan State’s 10 Final Four appearances are tied for sixth most in history. The Spartans (22-12) finished seventh in the Big Ten regular-season standings and lost to Purdue in the conference tournament semifinal. MSU was just 5-8 in its final 13 games. Sparty’s streak of 24 straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the longest in Big Ten history and third-longest in NCAA history. Izzo is now tied with Krzyzewski for the most consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (24) by a head coach.
Sparty is led by senior forward Gabe Brown (11.4 ppg) and five-star freshman guard Max Christie (9.5 ppg). Point guard Tyson Walker (8.1 ppg) is in some question for the opener with an injury. Michigan State is 2-6 ATS in its past six NCAA Tournament games as a favourite.
