Spartans Will Roll Against Wisconsin

Wisconsin vs. Michigan State, 1:00 ET

We aren't quite there yet with the Conference Tournament Championship games as we are sitting at the Semi-final today for the Big 10. As we rapidly approach the end of these games, I think we need to give an appreciation for just how great they've been. It has been riveting basketball. The games are filled with crazy moments. While there haven't been a ton of buzzer beaters, the competitiveness of the games is something that we should all be thankful for. Today we get another good one that should be competitive as well between Wisconsin and Michigan State.

Wisconsin is currently ranked as the 18th best team in the country and will be dancing no matter the outcome of this game. Does that mean they shouldn't care? Of course, not. Everyone should want to win every game they play and so far in 33 games this season, the Badgers have done it in all but eight of them. Of those eight losses, seven came against Big 10 opponents. They dropped three straight in early December, two of them to Big 10 opponents and another to Marquette. After correcting their issues, they ran off seven straight wins before dropping another two of three games to UCLA and Maryland. The next losses came against Oregon, Michigan State, and Penn State. I'm not disappointed by really any of their losses with maybe the exception of the game against Penn State. 

MADISON, WISCONSIN - FEBRUARY 04: Oumar Ballo #11 of the Indiana Hoosiers during the first half of the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Kohl Center on February 04, 2025 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)

For Michigan State, they are the favorites to win the Big 10 Championship after taking down the regular season with a 17-3 conference record. They also are 27-5 overall, further attesting to the successful season they've put together. I feel like this team was a bit under-the-radar to start the season, but certainly won't be overlooked when it comes to seeding and the tournament. The Spartans have only had to play one game so far, beating Oregon yesterday without too much of a sweat. Their five losses this season were against Kansas, Memphis, USC, UCLA, and Indiana. Of those five games the USC and UCLA back-to-back on the road was the worst in my opinion. Both teams are decent enough, but it just seemed like a strange loss because it happened to both at the same time. The Indiana loss was the only one they suffered at home, and the Kansas and Memphis ones were on neutral courts early in the year. 

For this game we can take a look at the first time the two teams matched up as at least a bit of an indicator for what will happen in this one. In that game, Michigan State hosted the Badgers and they won the game 71-62. The Spartans found their success in the second half of the game though. In the first half they played almost to a tie with Wisconsin winning by just two. The second half saw the Spartans lock in a bit more on offense. For the game, Wisconsin shot 32 three-pointers. They hit just five. Half of their shots beyond the arc and it resulted in a 15% shooting clip. I do expect they improve upon that number here, because it would be hard to do much worse. However, I'm still taking the Spartans to win this one. I think they have the better team, better coach, and shouldn't struggle too much here. Back them at -2.5.

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