Michigan State basketball opens as slight gambling favorite over Mississippi State
Michigan State basketball opened as a slight favorite against Mississippi State in the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament, despite being the slightly lower seed.
The first-round game will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday at 12:15 p.m. on CBS for the right to most likely play No. 1 seed North Carolina in the second round.
As expected for the matchup between the No. 8 and No. 9 seed, Michigan State-Mississippi State is projected to be a close one. BetMGM has Michigan State listed as a 1½-point favorite over the Bulldogs, giving the Spartans a slight edge in the neutral-site matchup. The spread bet was the only one initially listed, with no options for money line or over/under this early.
Michigan State had to sweat their bid on Selection Sunday, but made the field for the 26th straight year as one of the last at-large teams. The Spartans stumbled down the stretch of the regular season, losing four of the final five games and then going 1-1 in the Big Ten tournament.
On the other side, Mississippi State finished the regular season with four straight losses before going 2-1 in the SEC tournament, including a win over No. 2 seed Tennessee.
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The Bulldogs are in their second season under head coach Chris Jans, who took the team to the NCAA tournament in his first year and lost in the first round to Pittsburgh. Mississippi State finished this season 21-13 with a losing record of 8-10 in conference play but has notable wins against tournament teams in Tennessee (twice), Northwestern and Washington State.
KenPom, a college basketball analytics website, agrees with Las Vegas and projects a Michigan State victory. KenPom is currently projecting a 70-69 Michigan State win, giving the Spartans a 55% chance to advance to the second round.
Michigan State is considered a long shot to win six straight games to claim the NCAA championship, according to BetMGM. The Spartans are tied for the 23rd-best odds to win it all at +10000. If you bet $10 on Michigan State to win it all and they do, you would take home $1000 plus your original $10 bet.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State spread vs. Mississippi State: Spartans slight favorites
