Michigan State basketball: 3 bold predictions for crucial battle at Michigan

1. Michigan State picks up an emotional road win

It’s been a heck of a week for Michigan State. Following the tragedy that took three innocent lives and put five more in critical condition, Tom Izzo had to deal with the fact that his son was in the area of the shooting at that same time and was unharmed. He also had to scramble to make sure all of his players were OK.

It’s been a stressful week for the university and the Hall of Fame head coach.

Now he must prepare to take on his rival in Ann Arbor on Saturday night with Michigan fighting for some NCAA Tournament respect (it’ll take a lot more than this win). The Spartans are looking to improve their tournament seeding and potentially finish with a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament as a top-four team in the standings. Basically, there’s a ton to play for.

But with emotions running high and a ton to play for, including school pride and unity, Michigan State will pick up a huge road win over the Wolverines as 1.5-point underdogs.

With the win, Michigan State will take everyone’s minds off the tragedy this week even for a couple of hours and it’ll improve Michigan State’s record to 17-9 overall and 9-6 in league play.