For the first time since the Nebraska loss a couple of weeks ago, the Spartans will be on the road for an important Big Ten road trip.
Saturday’s Michigan State vs Washington game will mark the Spartans’ third road game in conference play this season, and if it’s anything like the previous two, fans are in for a thriller.
Michigan State needed a career game from Divine Ugochukwu to beat Penn State in Happy Valley back in December, and it choked away a late lead at No. 13 Nebraska to fall, 58-56, in what many Cornhusker fans dubbed “the biggest game in program history”.
While I think that might be slightly exaggerating the importance of that early January basketball game in Lincoln, it was an electric atmosphere, and the Spartans fell just short.
On Saturday, Michigan State will face a team that just got some bad news regarding a transfer from USC who was supposed to be a huge addition to this year’s squad. Desmond Claude suffered an injury in the offseason, and he just revealed that he’d be out indefinitely while he focuses on his health.
Even without a star player like Claude, Vegas thinks this road game is going to be tricky for Michigan State.
Opening odds for Michigan State vs Washington
Odds courtesy of DraftKings as of Jan. 16.
Line: Michigan State -3.5
Over/Under: 141.5
Moneyline: Michigan State -166 | Washington +140
As you can see, Vegas doesn’t have a ton of faith in Michigan State’s ability to not only cover on the road, but outright win. This game is moving closer and closer to a pick ‘em, and that’s pretty surprising when you consider how different the two teams’ seasons have been.
Michigan State is 15-2 and 5-1 in the Big Ten while Washington is just 10-7 and it has a paltry 2-4 record in conference play. Yet this is almost a pick ‘em? How?
I’m not going to continue to question Vegas because it’s right more often than not, but this line is either genius or it’s going to be way off.
One thing’s for sure: winning at Washington isn’t going to be a cakewalk for MSU.