Michigan State Spartans vs Duke Blue Devils (5, 139)
The Spartans had a nice OT win over Louisville to get here, when a few months ago not many thought they could get this far.
Andy says that the best sign he saw at all the venues was "January, February, Izzo, April & May" and that is because Tom Izzo has had great success in March. He is actually surprised at how far his team has come this year and how far they have gotten.
Coach K is 7-1 SU, but just 3-5 ATS in the 8 meetings with Michigan State , while at Duke. Andy feels it will be difficult for Michigan State in this one and the key is whether they can contain Okafor in this game. Andy isn't sure they can.
Scott states that Duke beat a number 2 seed (Gonzaga) by 14, while Michigan State beat Louisville (#2) by just 6 and Oklahoma (#3) by just 4. Should that be a factor in this game?
Steve feels that the Zags final score may be a bit misleading as it was closer than that for much of the game. Steve also states that Duke may have a slight advantage here as they played in a football stadium last week and will be playing in another one this week. His one concern for Duke here is that they have to travel the farthest for this game and Michigan State will have more fans at this game.
Scott states that Duke has the more efficient offense, while the defenses are pretty equal as stated by Ken Pom. Scott also notes that Michigan State is the deeper team and they could be a major factor here.
Andy does state that Duke has had the more favorable schedule to get here in the Big Dance, but also states that this has been the most formful NCAA Tournament to date as the higher seed has won 48 of the 60 games played thus far.
Steve doesn't like the way Michigan State celebrated after their win over Louisville. They may be just happy to be here and Duke will consider the whole season a failure if they lose this game. That has Steve on Duke in this game.
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