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Odds To Win The 2009 NCAA Tournament: Michigan State Spartans

Written by Jimmy Boyd

spartans-31909 It looks like Tom Izzo finally has another team capable of cutting down the Nets. The Spartans started off the decade with a national title and maybe they can end the decade the same way. Michigan State has earned a No. 2 in the Midwest Region and enters the tournament with a 26-6 mark. The Spartans dominated the Big Ten this season, winning the conference regular season title by four games. It looks to me like the committee has placed the Spartans in a pretty favorable region and they should have plenty of fan support playing close to home in the Midwest. The Michigan State Spartans are listed at +1500 to win the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

The Spartans get No. 15 seed Robert Morris from the Northeast Conference in the first round and odds makers are chalking this one up to be nothing short of a cake walk. Michigan State is listed as a 17-point favorite. The Spartans made a nice run to the Sweet 16 a season ago with wins over Temple and Pitt before Memphis got the best of them. The Spartans believe they are even better than they were last year and feel they can get to the Final Four.

What makes Michigan State a more dangerous team this year is that it is more explosive offensively. Tom Izzo’s teams always play strong defense, but the offense really looks to get out and run with star point guard Kalin Lucas pushing it up the floor. Lucas leads the Spartans in scoring and assists with 14.4 points and 4.4 assists per game respectively. But this is a very balanced Michigan State team with three other players averaging around the double figures mark. The key player for the Spartans in this tournament will be Raymar Morgan. Morgan averages 10.5 points per game but is capable of so much more. An injury slowed in for much of the season, but now he is back and I look for this guy, who averaged 14.1 points per game last season, to really turn it on in the tournament.

The Spartans will see either Boston College or USC in the second round and neither team is as complete. USC enters the tournament on a high and will compete defensively, but I don’t see the Trojans being able to score efficiently enough to keep pace. As for Boston College, I think they peaked too early. It will likely be Kansas or West Virginia in the Sweet 16. Seeing Lucas and Kansas’ Sherron Collins go head to head at the point would be a great battle. I’m not big on Kansas in this tournament because it is so young and the defending champ always have a sizeable target on its back. West Virginia can give Michigan State a tough game as I feel it is underrated heading into the tournament. If Michigan State gets to the Elite Eight, Louisville will likely be waiting and I think the Cards are a beatable No. 1 seed. They depend on getting turnovers to beat their opponents and the teams that have been able to beat the pressure have been able to beat Louisville. I think Kalin Lucas can do that just the way UConn’s A.J. Price did to get the Spartans into the Final Four.

Do your college basketball betting on Jimmy Boyd’s expert NCAA basketball picks for the most winners against the basketball odds this March.

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