Tar Heels Will Bounce Spartans From Tourney

Michigan State vs. North Carolina, 5:30 ET

We've moved to the weekend, and now we are down to the round of 32! After some thrilling upsets, and some questionable calls, it is nice to see what we have in store for us with this round. There are a couple of games today where I'd expect the "Cinderella Story" to end, and somewhere I think we might get another upset. However, for me, I've focused in on this one as we have one of the top seeds in the tournament looking to make it to next week against one of the more storied college basketball programs. Let's see what we can cook up for the game between #9 Michigan State and #1 North Carolina.

Tom Izzo knows how to navigate a season. This was one of the more interesting ones that I can remember for him. They entered the year as a highly-ranked squad and quickly lost that designation - in fact, I don't think they were ranked again this year after they lost their ranking. A quick note about that, because it is interesting based on who they play today: North Carolina was the #1 ranked team in the nation to start the year last season, and they didn't even make the tournament. Now they are a #1 seed in this year's tournament with a similar team. I bring this up because it showcases that the team has talent, even if the season didn't start out well. Either way, they've made it here now and they took care of business against Mississippi State in their first game. It wasn't much of a contest as the Spartans beat them by 18 points. That won't be the case in this game, but don't be too surprised if Michigan State can potentially pull off an upset. The Spartans are a guard-heavy team, but they've held their own against some of the bigger body teams in the Big 10. They played Purdue in the Big 10 Conference Tournament and kept that game close. They lost to Wisconsin and Illinois three out of four matchups. They did beat Illinois in Michigan 88-80. They also played Duke, an ACC team, and lost that game, but again, that was early in the season when they were clearly trying to figure things out. 

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 20: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans speaks with the media during practice day ahead of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 20, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

North Carolina is one of the teams that I like for winning the championship this season. That isn't a bold prediction considering they are a #1 seed, but they are playing with the motivation of taking care of business from last season, and they have a good team. Sometimes, motivation can only take you so far, but the talent the Tar Heels have shouldn't be underestimated. North Carolina came into the tournament off of a surprising loss to North Carolina State in the ACC Championship game. That might be a blessing in disguise for the team as they were rolling with eight straight wins prior to that loss. Now they should be completely focused and not take anything for granted in the game. The three-headed monster of a team that they have is enough to beat the majority of the teams in this tournament until maybe the Final Four. Very few people have been able to stop RJ Davis as he continues to rack up points. Armando Bacot reels in rebounds and gets putbacks against opponents with relative ease. And, Harrison Ingram does a lot of the dirty work and provides a nice balance of floor spacing, scoring, and rebounding for the team. 

Sometimes games just look off. Michigan State is good, well-coached, has talent, and is playing well right now. All of those things matter in the tournament. However, North Carolina is a better team and has better players. That may not always matter under the bright lights and center stage, but a few of them have been in this before. I like the Tar Heels in this game at -3.5 and think they should win this game by probably at least seven or eight points. I'll back UNC to continue their march toward redemption.