Michigan State vs Michigan 1/29/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State Spartans meet Saturday in college basketball action from Breslin Center. Michigan is sitting at 10-7 this year and coming off a win over Northwestern. As for Michigan State, they’re 15-4 so far. The Spartans lost a tough one to Illinois in their last game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Michigan got off to a 7-4 start this year, losing to Seton Hall, Arizona, North Carolina and Minnesota along the way. After losses to UCF, Rutgers and Illinois, the Wolverines have since taken out Maryland, Indiana and Northwestern in succession. 

Matched up against Northwestern on Wednesday, the Wolverines posted a 34-31 edge at halftime. Michigan was able to hang on for the eventual 72-70 win. Caleb Houstan topped the team on 18 points with two rebounds. 

Over on the Michigan State side, they hit a 14-2 stretch in their first 16 games this year, taking losses to only Kansas and Baylor. The Spartans are just 1-2 since then, with a win over Wisconsin in between losses to Northwestern and Illinois. 

In the game against Illinois on Tuesday, the Spartans were outscored 34-20 by the break. Michigan State looked better after halftime but couldn’t come back in a 56-55 loss. Marcus Bingham was the lead scorer on 13 points and six boards. 

The Spartans are 6-1 ATS in the last seven after a straight-up loss and 0-4 ATS in their last four at home. The over is 4-1 in Michigan State’s last five Saturday games. 

Meanwhile, the Wolverines are 4-1 ATS in their last five Saturday games and 2-6 ATS in their  last eight after a straight-up win. The over is 4-1 in Michigan’s last five road games. 

PICK: I’m going to try Michigan here, but probably staying away. Picking Big Ten games these days is a dice-roll proposition, as it’s a very talented conference. The Wolverines have been picking up steam over their last three games, hitting 72 or more points in each and (finally) getting firmly back over .500 on the year. 

As for Michigan State, they’ve been at 62 points or fewer in two of their last three which is quite uncharacteristic of the team this year. I like a higher-scoring matchup in this one, with Michigan staying on it well enough to cover. Should be a fun game to watch.