A couple of weeks ago, the Michigan vs. Michigan State game in Ann Arbor was the talk of the town. The Spartans and Wolverines were battling it out for Big Ten supremacy and Michigan had the upper hand, sitting alone in first place.
Fast forward to Sunday, and Michigan State has locked up the Big Ten title by at least one game and a win over the Wolverines at noon will make it a three-game cushion to end the regular season, hanging the 11th conference championship banner under Tom Izzo.
It's crazy how that much has changed so quickly.
Since the loss to Michigan State, Michigan is 2-2 with its lone wins coming against Nebraska, when the Wolverines scored just 49 points, and Rutgers -- a buzzer-beater was needed to win that one. The losses were against Illinois and Maryland, both at home, and the Wolverines just looked outmatched in each of those games. As for Michigan State, it's on a long winning streak, included in that are five Quad 1 wins and since beating Michigan, the Spartans beat Maryland, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
To say these two teams are trending in opposite directions would be an understatement. So much so, that Vegas has also noticed and the spread from a couple of weeks ago has flipped dramatically.
Michigan was actually a 3.5-point favorite in Ann Arbor and on Sunday, Michigan State is getting set to close as a 7.5-point favorite, per DraftKings. That's quite the swing for just a couple of weeks -- and I think it should actually be more in Michigan State's favor, but this is merely an exhibition for the Spartans.
Spread: Michigan State -7.5
Over/Under: 146.5
Moneyline: Michigan State -298 | Michigan +240
If Michigan State hadn't already locked up the Big Ten, I think the spread would be even more lopsided, but rarely do you see a 10-plus-point flip in the span of a couple of weeks between the first and second-place teams in the Big Ten.
But I'm taking Michigan State and the points. It's the month of Izzo.