Michigan State vs. North Carolina NCAA Tournament Round 2: How to watch, odds and predictions for March Madness

The Spartans made it past a hot Mississippi State team in the first round with ease. Now they have a tough matchup ahead of them as they take on 1-seed North Carolina in the round fo 32 in the NCAA Tournament.

This will be just the ninth time the Spartans and Tar Heels meet, the last time coming in 2017 during non-conference play. Michigan State is 3-5 against North Carolina, and 0-2 in March. They haven't played each other in the tournament since 2009 where the Tar Heels won 89-72.

Michigan State is coming in after getting hot during the Big Ten Tournament, but they will have to find answers for Armando Bacot and RJ Davis if they want to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Tom Izzo is 14-5 in the Round of 32 so they will need some of that magic to help them against the Tar Heels.

How to watch Michigan State vs. North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament Round 2

Date: Saturday, March 23
Time: 5:30 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Streaming: NCAA March Madness Live I fuboTV
Announcers: Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, and Allie LaForce

Michigan State vs. North Carolina NCAA Tournament Round 2 odds

The oddsmakers have this set as a close game with North Carolina as just a 3.5-point favorite. I think that is a fair line because both these teams are firing on all cylinders right now. They also have this projected as a high-scoring game with the over/under set at 142.5.

Michigan State vs. North Carolina NCAA Tournament Round 2 prediction

This is a tough game to predict as these teams are both playing their best basketball right now. I am going to be honest, I pulled a bold move and have North Carolina getting upset by Michigan State in this round on my bracket so personally I am pulling for the Spartans.

I almost don't want to predict this game because it is so close. I think what will help the Spartans is that thier guards are more consistent while UNC relies heavily on RJ Davis. I am going to go bold here again and go with the Spartans in this one. I think Tom Izzo will have a good game plan to take Bacot out of this game and allow his players to play their game.