Jeff's 2007 Michigan State Spartans betting preview will provide you with the ins and outs of the oddsmakers favorite to win a Big Ten Championship this season.

Tom Izzo put his team in some elite company a season ago. Last season marked the 10th straight year Izzo’s crew has made the NCAA Tournament. Only basketball powerhouses Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, and Arizona have longer current streaks. We expect the Spartans to make it number 11 this season and to be in contention for a fifth trip to the Final Four under Izzo.

The Spartans will win this season with defense, depth, and determination above all other things. Oh yeah, and Izzo has a little talent pool to work with. The Spartans have four frontcourt players who are 6’10’’ or taller as well as high riser Marquise Gray who is 6’8’’. This front court helped Michigan State to one of its best defensive seasons in school history last season. With all of these guys coming back, we can expect more of the same. Drew Namick and Gray both enjoyed healthy offseasons for the first time in their college careers. Namick led State with 55 blocks a season ago. While these guys can definitely get things done in the defense and rebounding columns, Michigan State needs a consistent scorer to develop out of this frontcourt group for this team to challenge for a national title.

Hard nosed point guard Travis Walton and big time scorer Drew Neitzel should be even better this season as freshman Kalin Lucas and Chris Allen will now be available to spell them. Keep Neitzel fresher is going to make him nearly impossible to defend. Expect this depth to have Izzo wanting to push the pace more both offensively and defensively. Neitzel is a preseason Big Ten Player of the Year candidate. This smooth lefty can catch and shoot off screens and create his own shot. His quick first step allows him to penetrate effectively to create shots for others as well.

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Teams better get ready to face Izzo’s 94 feet of hell man-to-man defense. He played this defense in Michigan State’s 2005 run to the Final Four. Izzo has not been shy about his wanting to get out on the break more this season. If the freshman mature the way Izzo plans, State may have a Final Four ticket reserved.

Oddsmakers won’t adjust to Michigan State’s anticipated more uptempo game off the bat so we anticipate State to be slightly undervalued in the early going. Look to do some college basketball betting on the Spartans right out of the gates and we anticipate them burying some opponents.

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