The very first game of the first round in the NCAA Tournament will feature the Michigan State Spartans and the Mississippi State Bulldogs. This is a 8/9 game out of the West region. The winner of this game will likely take on the top seeded North Carolina Tar Heels.
The Michigan State Spartans come into the game with a 19-14 record on the season. The Spartans finished 8th in the Big Ten Conference and eventually lost to Purdue in the tournament on Friday.
For the Mississippi State Bulldogs, they are 21-13 on the season. The Bulldogs finished 9th in the SEC. Mississippi State dropped a 7 point affair to Auburn on Saturday in the SEC Tournament. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games.
The Michigan State Spartans are -1.5 in this game over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Izzo and the Spartans in March
Tom Izzo and his Michigan State Spartans have the worst record of any at-large team into the tournament. Michigan State has not won two in a row since the middle of February, but here they are in dancing. The Spartans are scoring 73.1 points per game, and one of the worst three point shooting teams in the tournament, making just 6.4 per game.
The top scorer for Michigan State has been Tyson Walker. Walker is one of four guys scoring double digits per game for the Spartans. Walker is at 18.2 points per game. Malik Hall is second on the team with 12.6, while AJ Hoggard is scoring 11 points per game.
Michigan State started the season 1-2 with losses to James Madison and Duke. The Spartans also lost to Arizona early in the season. The best wins for the Spartans this season in the non conference slate have been over Baylor and Indiana State.
13 Loss Bulldogs
The Mississippi State Bulldogs come into the game with 13 losses. In fact, the Bulldogs lost their first three games of March. They lost to Auburn, Texas A+M and South Carolina. In the SEC Tournament though, two wins over LSU and Tennessee helped their resume enough to get into the dance.
The Bulldogs are scoring 74.8 points per game. Mississippi State is also not a huge three point shooting team, with just over 7 makes a game. The Bulldogs top scorer this season has been Josh Hubbard with 17.1 points per game. Second on the squad in scoring has been Tolu Smith, with 15.2 per game.
Mississippi State started the season with seven straight wins. Their first loss was at the end of November to Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs picked up non conference wins over Washington State and Northwestern; both tournament teams.
Bulldogs Top Spartans
This is the Big Ten against the SEC. The Spartans and the Bulldogs. Two teams that kind of underachieved this season. Two teams that are fortunate to be in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs have a little more life than the Spartans.
Mississippi State is more well rounded than Michigan State. We are going to take the small underdog here. We will bet Mississippi State +1.5 over the Michigan State Spartans on Thursday to start the tournament off.
