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College Hoops Preview: Buckeyes vs. Spartans (Jan. 6)

One of the best rivalries in all of college basketball resumes on Tuesday night when the Ohio State Buckeyes battle the Michigan State Spartans….

NCAA Basketball Rivalry Ohio St vs Michigan St

One of the best rivalries in all of college basketball resumes on Tuesday night when the Ohio State Buckeyes battle the Michigan State Spartans. Ohio State, due to losses to both West Virginia and Minnesota in two out of their three last games, is no longer ranked. The Buckeyes were undefeated going into their game against West Virginia but as most sports betting fans know, the Mountaineers dominated the Buckeyes in that game. Now, Ohio State is 10 and 2 straight-up. Against the BetUS online betting spread they are a terrible 4 and 5.

The Michigan State Spartans are currently ranked 12th in the nation. As always, Tom Izzo’s team will be a threat in March. At this point in the season, they to have two losses but one of those losses was to the previously unbeaten North Carolina Tar Heels. The Spartans have a record of 6 and 4 against the BetUS Sportsbook betting spread.

Here are the BetUS online sportsbooks NCAAB betting odds for this game:

Ohio State + 9 ½ – 110
Michigan State – 9 ½ – 110

Here are a few online wagering trends that might help us find a good online bet in this game:

The Ohio State Buckeyes are 1 and 4 against the spread in their last 5 games overall.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are 1-4-1 against the spread in their last 6 games against a rival team from the Big-Ten Conference.
The Michigan State Spartans are 4 and 1 against the spread in their last 5 games overall.
The Michigan State Spartans are 4 and 0 against the spread in their last 4 games versus a rival from the Big-Ten Conference.

When it comes down to it the Spartans are just the better team, but how much better? Are they actually 9 ½ points better than the Ohio State Buckeyes?

Maybe. Michigan State’s Raymar Morgan might be the best player in the Big-Ten. He’s averaging over 15 points and 6 rebounds a game. That’s good production. Kalin Lucas is a fantastic point-guard. He’s averaging close to 7 assists a game, but actually got 9 to go along with 17 points the last time the Spartans took the floor.

The Ohio State Buckeyes just don’t matchup very well with the Spartans. They really don’t match-up well with Morgan and Lucas.

Evan Turner is a nice player for the Buckeyes but he leads the team in assists with 2 a game. That tells me that the Buckeyes aren’t sharing the ball as well as they should.

I hate laying so many points, but I sort of feel that I have to. I don’t see Ohio State keeping this one close in the final ten minutes.

NCAA Hoops Prediction:

I’ll be making an online college basketball bet on the Michigan State Spartans to cover the 9 ½ points.