East Lansing has been a tough place for Iowa, as it hasn’t won there since 1995, including a 16-13 defeat last year. But the Hawkeyes own the nation’s second-longest current winning streak at 11 games. But is Iowa overrated? Certainly the college football odds for Saturday’s game seem to indicate that. The Hawkeyes have won three games by three points or less, all at home, and two of those were to Northern Iowa and Arkansas State. In fairness, Iowa also did blank Wisconsin and Penn State on the road in the second half of both games to rally for wins. The Hawkeyes’ defense relies on forcing turnovers, which it has done 22 times – including a national-high 15 picks. The offense is rather conservative, ranking ninth in the Big Ten.

Michigan State has won three games in a row and has the passing offense is the best in the Big Ten, averaging 280.4 yards per game. Kirk Cousins leads the conference in passing efficiency, but he has been prone to interceptions, which Iowa obviously thrives on. If the game comes down to a battle of kickers, MSU has one of the nation’s best in Brett Swenson, who is one made field goal from setting a career school record. Definitely consider then when doing your football betting.

Saturday’s game is just the eighth at night in the 86-year history of Spartan Stadium (MSU is 4-3 in the previous seven). The Spartans have won just one of their past 13 against teams ranked in the AP poll, although that one came this year against Michigan. But since 1998, Sparty is 5-2 against top-10 teams at Spartan Stadium.

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Then last week, with the Spartans trailing at Notre Dame by 3 points with just over a minute left, MSU's Larry Caper was all alone in the end zone for the likely winning touchdown catch, but he couldn't quite pull down a Kirk Cousins pass. The on the next play, from the Irish 18, Cousins inexplicably threw into traffic at the 4-yard line. It was picked off, meaning no tying field goal at a minimum and another heartbreaking loss for Sparty.

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As for Wisconsin, the Badgers might be one of the more overrated 3-0 teams in the country. They have beaten Northern Illinois and Wofford (yawn) and probably should have lost at home to Fresno State. Obviously Saturday's game with the Spartans will be Wisconsin's toughest test, and UW is a 3-point favorite on Bodog's college football odds.

The Badgers have been surprisingly balanced so far, having passed for 678 yards and run for 598. If QB Scott Tolzien is the real deal, this team might be something. The junior is 47-for-68 for 641 yards and four touchdowns, and he is second among Big Ten QBs in passer rating and completion percentage. It's the best start for a UW quarterback since 1993. Again, however, consider the competition so far. However, Michigan State has been susceptible against the pass, allowing 251.3 yards per game through the air.

Yet look for the Spartans to focus their defense more on stopping Wisconsin RB John Clay. He has 256 yards on the ground (5.3 yards per carry), including a career-high 143 against Fresno State.  He was ripped by his coach for fumbling three times against Wofford last week and thus might be very fired up for this week's game. Clay gained 111 yards on 14 carries and scored a touchdown last year in the Badgers' 25-24 loss to the Spartans last season. The Badgers also use Zach Brown as a change-of-pace back to Clay – the two had the same amount of carries last week.

On offense, Michigan State must find a consistent running attack, as that is averaging just 127 yards per game. The Badgers certainly will double-team top receiver Blair White, who has 22 receptions for 342 yards and four scores. The Spartans have the best passing game in the Big Ten, and the Badgers were shredded through the air by their best competition this year so far in Fresno State.

When doing your football betting at Bodog, consider that Michigan State has a 13-12 record all-time in Madison but that Wisconsin has won eight of the past 12 meetings overall.

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The 4-point underdog Spartans will take on the Connecticut Huskies in the Final Four at Detroit’s Ford Field.
The Spartans got to this point by beating Robert Morris 77-62 in the first round and USC 74-69 in the second round. Then MSU came back to beat Kansas in the regional semifinals, with the game-winning three-point play from Kalin Lucas. The Spartans suffocated Louisville in the regional final, holding the Cardinals 33 points below their NCAA scoring average.

MSU is 21-8-1 ATS in their last 30 NCAA Tournament games, including the last four in a row.
Can the Spartans take advantage of the crowd and pull off another upset? Get your college basketball odds with Bodog before the big game!

Goran Suton had 19 points and 10 rebounds as the second-seeded Spartans played the pace game to perfection and reached their fifth Final Four in 11 years.

The Cardinals never figured it out on Sunday, and never managed to produce one of those trademark scoring runs. Earl Clark led Louisville with 19 points, but the only other player to reach double figures was backup guard Preston Knowles.

The Spartans will play the Connecticut Huskies on Saturday at Ford Field in Detroit. An expected crowd of 72,000 should give the underdog Spartans an edge. Be sure to get your NCAA basketball odds with Bodog today.

The 15th seed in the Midwest Region will play the Michigan State Spartans in the first round tonight at the Metrodome.

The Spartans are the beasts of the Big Ten and have a long history of success in the NCAA tournament. But this season has been inconsistent. They have beaten Oklahoma State, Texas and Kansas in convincing fashion, yet lost at home to Northwestern, Penn State and been blown out on the road by Maryland and Purdue. That doesn’t include a 35-point loss to North Carolina at Ford Field in Detroit.

The 17-point underdog Colonials not only have to compete with a powerful team on the court, but they will also be playing in the cavernous Metrodome in front of a crowd more than 10 times the capacity they are used to.

The Spartans have won six of their last seven games at 5-2 ATS as they make a push for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But if the betting line gets a bit out of hand, Crean can steal a payday from under the nose of former mentor Tom Izzo. The Spartans are just 3-6 ATS as double-digit favorites this year. Indiana is 6-4 ATS when spotted more than a dozen points.

But hold the phone. The Hawkeyes have played most of the Big Ten slate without Cyrus Tate, their captain, center and lone senior. Tate suffered a high ankle sprain on Jan. 8 against Minnesota, starting a 1-7 SU and 3-5 ATS slide. But Tate has played a few minutes here and there since then, and Iowa is 2-2 SU and 3-1 ATS in its past four games. Get your college basketball picks with Bodog today.

Michigan enters this contest having lost six of its last eight games overall and will now face their second straight Top 25 opponent after falling 69-61 at Connecticut on Saturday.

Kalin Lucas had 18 points in the Spartans’ 77-62 victory at home over the Wolverines in the teams’ only meeting last season.

The Spartans are expected to be without second-leading scorer and rebounder Raymar Morgan for a third straight game due to a virus, walking pneumonia, and a mild case of mononucleosis.

Michigan has won two straight Big Ten games at home, including 71-51 over Penn State on Thursday. Get your college basketball odds with Bodog before the big game tonight.

Penn State is a 14.5-point favorite to get their eighth straight home win over Michigan State and punch their ticket to Pasadena. For the Spartans to earn their first trip to Pasadena since 1988 they'd need to win and have Michigan upset Ohio State.

Michigan State will look to Javon Ringer to lead them to the upset victory. The senior tailback is second in the nation with 1,548 rushing yards, and no player has scored more than his 20 touchdowns.

The odds are certainly against the Spartans this week as they have lost 10 straight games against ranked opponents.

Derrick Rose and Memphis march into Elite Eight. (AP Images)

After a decent tournament showing, the Michigan State Spartans were firmly shot down Friday night by the number one-ranked Memphis Tigers.

The final score read 92-74 in favor of the Tigers.

Although the high-scoring combination of Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts played a significant role in the Tigers victory – they finished with 27 and 25 points respectively – perhaps more telling is the lack of scoring from MSU guard Drew Neitzel.

Despite the expectations Spartan fans had of their team-leading senior, Neitzel connected on just two of eight shots in the loss and finished with an uncharacteristic six points.

Spartan forward Goran Suton attempted to fill the void, but his 23 points ultimately came up short.

For Memphis, Rose, the undisputed NBA lottery pick this June, finished the game shooting an impressive 10-16 from the field and added five assists despite playing just 26 minutes on the night.

Up next for Memphis comes the Texas Longhorns in the Elite Eight , fresh off a victory over Stanford.

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