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Tommy Brunson
Must respect the Bison of Bucknell, as this is a school that not only has played on this stage before, but have had success on it. Just Arkansas and Kansas who they bested in the Big Dance. They have also faced Butler and West Virginia in this round, so no, they will not be "freaked out" to be playing again on this stage.
Problem is, Tom Izzo's team has been flying under the radar, and they do have the added benefit of playing this game in-state in Detroit! Michigan State plays defense, can score the rock, has 5-players that average double-digits, including a beast by the name of Miles Bridges, and oh yeah, their last game was all the way back on March the 3rd as the Big Ten played their conference tourney early this year.
Sparty will be fresh as a daisy, and while the Bisons do have 3 seniors on their team, and will indeed hang around for a while with the points, I don't doubt for one minute that this opening round Friday night game in front of a very friendly crowd will be a nice salve for Tom Izzo who took plenty of heat this season - and still may face more to come!
Bucknell was just 5-5 against the spread in their limited lined games this season, and if they were catching just a few points more, I might be interested in backing them. My opinion is due to their past competitive efforts, this line is actually a little lower than it really should be since this is pretty much a "home" game for the Spartans.
Michigan State covers tonight.
3* MICHIGAN STATE
Must respect the Bison of Bucknell, as this is a school that not only has played on this stage before, but have had success on it. Just Arkansas and Kansas who they bested in the Big Dance. They have also faced Butler and West Virginia in this round, so no, they will not be "freaked out" to be playing again on this stage.
Problem is, Tom Izzo's team has been flying under the radar, and they do have the added benefit of playing this game in-state in Detroit! Michigan State plays defense, can score the rock, has 5-players that average double-digits, including a beast by the name of Miles Bridges, and oh yeah, their last game was all the way back on March the 3rd as the Big Ten played their conference tourney early this year.
Sparty will be fresh as a daisy, and while the Bisons do have 3 seniors on their team, and will indeed hang around for a while with the points, I don't doubt for one minute that this opening round Friday night game in front of a very friendly crowd will be a nice salve for Tom Izzo who took plenty of heat this season - and still may face more to come!
Bucknell was just 5-5 against the spread in their limited lined games this season, and if they were catching just a few points more, I might be interested in backing them. My opinion is due to their past competitive efforts, this line is actually a little lower than it really should be since this is pretty much a "home" game for the Spartans.
Michigan State covers tonight.
3* MICHIGAN STATE
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