The Arkansas Razorbacks and the Michigan State Spartans meet Saturday in college basketball action from Breslin Center. Here’s a Michigan State vs Arkansas prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Michigan State vs Arkansas pick.
Arkansas Razorbacks Betting Preview
Last season the Razorbacks put up an improved effort over the 16-17 overall run from the 2023-24 campaign. Arkansas ended up going 22-14 overall with an 8-10 run in a very tough Southeastern Conference. That effort would put the Razorbacks behind Auburn, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Missouri and Ole Miss in the SEC standings. In the conference tournament, Arkansas took out South Carolina in the opening game before a loss to Ole Miss in the second round. Following a selection to the NCAA Tournament, the Razorbacks beat Kansas and St. John’s ahead of an overtime loss to Texas Tech, ending their campaign for good on March 27.
Arkansas has one game in the bag so far this year. That one came on Monday versus Southern in a home matchup, and it wasn’t close. The Razorbacks jumped out to a 57-32 edge by halftime, then finished on a 52-45 run for a 109-77 blowout finish. Leading the scoring was Trevon Brazile, who doubled up on 25 points and 11 rebounds. Darius Acuff added 22 points with four assists and two boards, while Meleek Thomas had 21 points with six rebounds and seven assists in 29 minutes of work on the floor during the home victory.
Michigan State Spartans Betting Preview
Over on the Michigan State side, they posted a pretty nice run last season—especially considering how difficult their conference was (and is). The Spartans went 30-7 overall with a very impressive 17-3 run in the Big Ten. That would put Michigan State three games ahead of Maryland for the top spot in the conference and a regular-season championship. The Spartans finished off with a seven-game winning streak heading into the postseason, then beat Oregon in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan State was shocked with a loss to Wisconsin in the next game though. In the national tourney, the Spartans beat Bryant, New Mexico and Ole Miss on the way to the Elite Eight, where they fell to Auburn on March 30.
Michigan State took on Colgate in their first game of the season. The Spartans had a very modest 37-34 edge at the break, but kept in front with a 43-35 second-half run on the way to an 80-69 win. Leading the way in scoring was Jaxon Kohler with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Also doubling up was Jeremy Fears with 14 points and 10 assists, while Coen Carr had 12 points, four rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes of work during the home victory.
Arkansas Razorbacks @ Michigan State Spartans Betting Trends: November 8, 2025
Why the Michigan State Spartans will win
- Michigan State has won each of its last 14 games against non-Conference opponents at Jack Breslin Student Events Center.
- Arkansas has lost 24 of its last 31 games against AP-ranked opponents.
- Michigan State has won the first half in 13 of its last 14 games against non-Conference opponents at Jack Breslin Student Events Center.
Why the Arkansas Razorbacks will win
- Arkansas has won nine of its last 10 games against non-Conference opponents.
- Michigan State has lost nine of its last 12 night games against AP-ranked opponents.
- Arkansas has won the first half in each of its last seven games against non-Conference opponents.
Total Points Facts
- Each of Michigan State’s last 11 night games against AP-ranked opponents have produced a total of 154 or fewer points.
- Five of Arkansas’ last six night games have produced a total of 167+ points.
Michigan State vs Arkansas Prediction
I’ll take a stab on Arkansas in this one. The Razorbacks didn’t have any issues with Southern in their home opener victory, posting a nice 50.7 percent shooting alongside 86.2 percent (25-of-29) from the line, a 42-32 rebounding edge, 23 assists and just nine turnovers. Arkansas was great in the paint as well, with a 48-28 edge there. Southern was able to shoot just 39.1 percent on the other side and had 12 turnovers for 10 Razorbacks steals.
As for Michigan State, they didn’t put up the most dominating effort versus Colgate in their home opener. The Spartans were outscored in the paint 30-28 and shot a tepid 41.7 percent from the field. The good news is that Michigan State had a 46-24 edge on the boards and just nine turnovers. If the Spartans are going to control game two, they’ll need a much more assertive performance up front. I like the Razorbacks to get in there and cover/win. Should be an interesting matchup.