The No. 18 Alabama Crimson Tide (4-0) will travel to Portland to battle the No. 15 Michigan State Spartans (3-1) Thursday at 10:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Alabama vs. Michigan State odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
While Alabama has won its first 4 games by an average of 27.25 points, the' Crimson Tide have played the likes of Logwood, Liberty, South Alabama, and Jacksonville State. As Alabama moves into its season and starts playing more challenging opponents in the SEC, the losses will come and the ability for the Tide to bounce back will be tested. This more challenging schedule starts Thursday against an already challenged Michigan State team.
As usual, coach Tom Izzo has the Spartans playing the most challenging schedule in the country. During the first month of the season, MSU has already played 3 games which many other teams would not schedule in its out of conference schedule. They lost 64-63 to Gonzaga, beat Kentucky 86-79 and beat Villanova 73-71.