The Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals get underway early today, but one of the later games will see the Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Michigan State Spartans. The game is scheduled for a 9:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. Currently the odds for the game have the Spartans favored by 5.5 points.
This is a huge game for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Currently they are out of the NCAA Tournament according to Joe Lunardi, ESPN bracketologist. But the Hawkeyes can certainly help themselves with a victory over the Michigan State Spartans in tonight's Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals. With the Hawkeyes playing last night and beating up on Northwestern, Iowa has to feel good about their chances to upset the Spartans in tonight's game.
Michigan State finished with the third seed in the Big Ten tourney and they are playing for a possible No. 1 seed if they are able to win out and clinch the tournament championship. There are a couple of other teams in that same scenario with Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State and possibly Wisconsin.
Both teams are pretty solid defensively and back in January when the two teams played the Spartans won a close contest. Michigan State won that game by just three points on the road.
Roy Devyn Marble scored 19 points to lead the Hawkeyes to a win over Northwestern on Thursday. Iowa killed the Wildcats on the glass, 48-31, including 19-5 on the offensive end. Rebounding will be huge, especially when playing against a massive rebounding team like the Michigan State Spartans. Adreian Payne will be battling inside on the glass for the Spartans, looking to win the rebounding edge.
Keith Appling is going to have to play a major game to hold off the upstart Hawkeyes. Iowa has a lot of confidence going and after a big win over Northwestern in the first round and a possible NCAA Tournament bid on the line tonight, they're going to play very hard. They almost beat Michigan State the first time around and will be looking for the upset on a neutral floor tonight.
We like Iowa to keep the momentum going. The Hawkeyes are a bit of an underdog in this one and Michigan State hasn't played in a week. They'll probably be a bit rusty and look for the Hawkeyes to take advantage. We like the upset to happen tonight.
Free Pick: Iowa 71, Michigan State 69
Reading The March Madness Betting Market
As we head into the month of March, Vegas Runner and RJ Bell will take a look at reading the betting market for this years March Madness.