Michigan State improved to a program-best 19-2 on Tuesday night with a come-from-behind win over Rutgers in Piscataway, and while it wasn’t pretty, it was good to see the team face some adversity for the first time in about a month.
Not only did the Spartans face adversity, but they overcame it.
This team did face some against Indiana and Oregon, but it wasn’t as much as the Spartans saw at Rutgers on Tuesday night. The Spartans were down by three with 17 seconds left, and Divine Ugochukwu hit one of the most clutch threes of his career, topping the ones he hit at Penn State earlier this season.
Michigan State hasn’t faced the toughest competition, but the target on its back is massive, and it’s feeling that on a nightly basis.
Still, you take any road win you can get in the Big Ten and you don’t apologize for it.
Michigan State’s futures odds did take a bit of a hit, however.
There’s serious value in Michigan State making a Final Four
Michigan State has been getting disrespected on DraftKings with futures odds already this season, but the Final Four odds for the No. 7 team in the country that’s off to the best start in program history should probably have better than the 12th-best odds to make the Final Four.
Not so fast, apparently.
Before losing to Michigan, Nebraska was listed with +750 odds to reach the final four on @DKSportsbook.
— Robin Washut (@RobinWashut) January 28, 2026
The Huskers are now down to +500. pic.twitter.com/25zrKmvjM0
The Spartans find themselves behind teams like Gonzaga, Illinois, Purdue (on a three-game losing streak by the way), and Florida. It’s kind of wild how much this team is being disrespected based off of one “ugly win” and the fact that they’ve taken care of the inferior teams on the schedule.
Still, there’s good value there.
If you believe that this team is going to give Tom Izzo his first Final Four since 2019, you could make $600 on a $100 bet. That’s not too bad considering the Spartans are atop the Big Ten standings and one of the best teams in college basketball this season — and one of the best in school history.
Izzo has led much worse to a Final Four in years past, so I might take a serious look at these borderline disrespectful odds.