Five wins, no losses. That's what Michigan State did in a stretch that included road games at Iowa, Maryland, and Michigan as well as home games against Purdue and Wisconsin. And yet 6-12 in the conference Iowa is still expected to keep things close on Thursday night, according to Vegas.
The Spartans went 5-0 in their toughest stretch of the season and arguably the toughest stretch any team in the Big Ten faced all year with five straight Quad 1 opponents, four of them being ranked.
On Thursday, Michigan State will face its "easiest" foe in a few weeks as it travels to Iowa City to take on the 16-14 Iowa Hawkeyes led by Fran McCaffery. It doesn't matter how good or bad Iowa is, it always seems to give Michigan State its best effort and Thursday will be no exception.
Still, this is an Iowa team that's 6-12 in conference play and just 2-4 in their last six home games with victories over just Washington and Penn State in that span. And they've lost 10 of their last 13 games overall and yet are projected to keep things close on Thursday night.
Vegas doesn't seem to trust Michigan State ahead of a huge showdown with Michigan on Sunday, per DraftKings.
Line: Michigan State -6.5
Over/Under: 152.5
Moneyline: Michigan State -305 | Iowa +245
Clearly Vegas thinks Michigan State is going to get caught looking ahead to Sunday and it may take the foot off the gas because it has locked up at least a share of the Big Ten title, but don't expect Tom Izzo to just roll over on Thursday against the Hawkeyes. There's revenge to be had.
Iowa has been playing some really bad basketball lately and hasn't had much of a home-court advantage in recent weeks while Michigan State has won road games against Illinois, Maryland, and Michigan lately. Something isn't adding up.
Do I think Michigan State could lose this game? Absolutely, we've seen it happen before. But with two teams having exact opposite success over the past three weeks, the spread is slim.
Give me Michigan State and the points.