Michigan State vs. Ohio State March 3 NCAA Basketball Betting Preview

The Ohio State Buckeyes have two games left in their season, including a huge matchup with the Michigan State Spartans in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday at 7 p.m.

They have fallen in back-to-back games in matchups in which they were favored, including a 75-60 matchup against Maryland and a 78-70 matchup against Nebraska to snap their impressive home-winning streak.

Michigan State also has two games remaining in their regular season and have lost four out of their last five contests to hurt their tournament chances.

They will be looking to turn it around against the Buckeyes, which will be no easy task in front of the Columbus home faithful. Ohio State and Michigan State will finish off their seasons against the Michigan Wolverines and Maryland Terrapins, respectively.

Let’s look ahead at this important Big Ten matchup that will prove to be crucial going into the Big Ten tournament.

Expected Odds

Ohio State is still ranked since the new rankings haven’t come out yet after their loss to Nebraska, but they will still be favored regardless as the team with the better record on their home floor. I expect the spread to not be too much as the Spartans are not far from the Buckeyes in the Big Ten rankings, even though they have had quite the cold streak.

The spread is -6 in favor of the Buckeyes, and I think the Buckeyes will win and cover the spread because this is a must-win game for an Ohio State team that needs to stay legitimate coming into March. This is the second to last game to prove themselves until the conference tournament, and they will need to take advantage of it.

Big Ten Conference Standings

The Big Ten has had a lot of movement this year, along with the rest of college basketball. Isn’t that the beauty of it all? Ohio State is currently two spots above the Spartans in fifth with a record of 11-7 in the conference. Michigan State is just one game behind them with a record of 10-8.

The Big Ten is one of the most competitive conferences in the nation, and this year is no different. They currently have five teams in the top 25, with the top 8 teams separated by five games or less. I always like the Big Ten teams in the NCAA tournament, but we will learn more about them come conference tournament time.

Big Ten Conference Tournament Preview

Ohio State is projected to finish fourth in the Big Ten compared to Michigan State who, is projected to finish sixth. If this were to stand true, both Ohio State and Michigan State would receive first and second-round byes.

Ohio State has an 81.5% chance of winning the quarterfinal game, 40.1% chance of winning the semifinal game, 21.23% chance of making it to the championship game. The Spartans have the chances of 62.2%, 25.1%, 10.9% in that same span.

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