March Madness Betting: Michigan State 25-1 to Win NCAA Tournament

The Michigan State Spartans entered the 2009-10 college basketball season as one of the favorites to go deep into the brackets for March Madness betting and rule the Big Ten Conference. Through January the Spartans were right on target with those expectations but in February they suffered a stunning and epic collapse as they went 5-5 straight up and 4-6 against the spread in college basketball odds to finish out of the money and as a highly disappointing beaten favorite. But just like a good horse that went bad for a few races, Michigan State could bring a lot of potential value at 25-1 now that expectations are low.

The Spartans have plenty of NCAA tournament experience and made it all the way to the championship game last year before losing to North Carolina in March madness betting for the final. The Spartans enter the 2010 NCAA Tournament with a record of 24-8 straight up and 12-19 against the spread. Their preseason hype and good start to the season along with their stellar national reputation served to kill all of their value this year. The Spartans actually played their best on the road as they were an even 6-6 against the spread in away games. They also went UNDER the total in 9 out of those 12 away games. The Michigan State Spartans are 25-1 as longshots in odds to win the 2010 NCAA men's tournament.

Michigan State is a well balanced team that ranked in the upper third nationally for offense while ranking in the upper sixth of the country for defense. The Spartans did struggle this year against Tournament teams heading into 2010 March madness betting, which is an area of concern. They lost to Florida and Texas while beating Gonzaga in non conference games while splitting in Big Ten action against fellow dancers Purdue, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The Big Ten was not a particularly strong conference this year so the Spartans have a lot to make up for on the dance floor.

Michigan State will face the New Mexico State Aggies in their first round match-up on Friday March 19th at 7:20pm EST in a game that can be seen on CBS with the Spartans a 13 point favorite. Michigan State is 4-8 against the spread in their last 12 games and 19-6 straight up in their last 25 games. New Mexico State is 6-3 against the spread in their last 9 games and 19-5 straight up in their last 24 games. Vegas odds have the Michigan State Spartans 50-1 to win the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament.