First place in the Big Ten is on the line tonight as the Indiana Hoosiers travel to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans in a battle of two teams that have Sweet Sixteen potential written all over them.
Tom Izzo leads his fourth-ranked Spartans into tonight's game taking on the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers - who just happen to be coached by a former Izzo assistant, Tom Crean.
Crean and Izzo aren't just former fellow co-workers, but they are very good friends on and off the court, so you know tonight's game will have a bit of extra meaning.
If anyone may know how Tom Izzo thinks, it's Tom Crean. Crean was Izzo's right hand man on the Spartans bench from 1995-99 and coaching in this game tonight may be a bit tough for both of them.
Izzo actually compared coaching vs. Crean to the Harbaugh Super Bowl match-up.
"I don't like doing it," Izzo said. "They didn't like doing it. But I thought John Harbaugh had a great line, `The only thing that could be worse than this is if one of us didn't make it."'
Both of these teams are headed to the NCAA Tournament, but tonight's match-up is all about bragging rights, oh, and a possible Big Ten title.
The Las Vegas line on this match-up has Indiana a slight favorite on the road at -1 and the over/under number is set at 141.
Bottom line: Both teams are playing well, but home court may win out here. MSU seems to play better when they come into a season when not much is expected of them.
Losing forward Draymond Green this season many expected the Spartans to be in somewhat of a rebuilding mode, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Sparty looks tough as ever.
Pick - Michigan State +1.5
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