The Sweet 16 is officially set, and the matchup that we’ve all been waiting for has become official. With the Huskies running away from UCLA on Sunday night, the Michigan State vs UConn stage has been set for Friday night at 9:45 p.m. ET.
You’d have to think that Tom Izzo and Michigan State would open as the underdogs considering UConn is the higher seed and looked like the better team when the two met in an exhibition game before the season.
But hey, that was a long time ago, and Vegas understands that.
Michigan State vs UConn opening odds show trust in “Mr. March”
Odds via DraftKings as of March 22, and judging by the line, I expect them to move rather quickly.
Line: Michigan State -1.5
Over/Under: 137.5
Moneyline: Michigan State -115 | UConn -105
This game is essentially a toss-up, but the fact that Michigan State opened as the 1.5-point favorite means that Vegas believes heavily in the Spartans and thinks that Izzo should get the job done. His team may be the lower seed and may have lost to the Huskies in an exhibition game, but there was a legitimate case for the Spartans to be a 2-seed and UConn to be a 3-seed.
And that exhibition game was almost a half-year ago. Neither team looks the same and I would say both have gotten better.
I expect this line to move drastically in UConn’s favor after seeing Michigan State, the lower seed, open as the favorite. College basketball bettors are going to be all over the Huskies, and honestly that’s best for Michigan State, but for right now, the pressure looks to be on Izzo.
This is a winnable game regardless. Even if UConn is favored by a couple of points come game day, I think the line shows that oddsmakers expect Michigan State not only to hang, but they believe in Izzo to survive and advance in his month.
A win on Friday would set up a massive showdown against either Duke or St. John’s in the Eight Eight in Washington, D.C. The seven-year anniversary of that 2019 showdown in the nation’s capital against the Blue Devils. It’d be cool to see history repeat itself, but this time it’d be nice to see Michigan State win the whole thing.