Spartans Favored at Sportsbook with Izzo Staying. The Michigan State Spartans are national title contenders next season vs. the sportsbook college basketball odds and they will be favored most of the time with Tom Izzo as head coach. Izzo considered leaving the Spartans to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers but he decided to stay at Michigan State. That means the Spartans will be a serious contender for a title next year vs. Internet sportsbook odds.
Sportsbook odds list Michigan State as one of the favorites next year to win college basketball’s national title along with defending champion Duke. The Spartans bring back a lot of talent and they know that they bring back one of the best coaches in the game in Izzo. The Cleveland Cavaliers made a big offer to Izzo but the Michigan State coach couldn’t get a commitment from LeBron James that he would remain in Cleveland so Izzo decided to stay with the Spartans.
Last season, Izzo led the Spartans to the Final Four for the sixth time in the last 12 years. The Spartans couldn’t get past Butler but they will be favored next season to get right back to the Final Four. Michigan State returns Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers, Draymond Green, Korie Lucious and Delvon Roe. The team is simply loaded heading into the 2010-2011 season. Having Lucas healthy will be a big key for Michigan State next season. The Spartans probably bring back more overall talent from last year than any other team in the country. The are coming off back-to-back Big 10 titles and Final Four appearances so anything less than another Final Four run will be a disappointment.
While the were very good last season straight up, they did not always cover the point spread. That is the price that marquee teams pay vs. the number sometimes. Michigan State was just 15-21 against the spread last season. Kalin Lucas led the team in scoring last season at 14.8 points per game. He also led them in assists at four per game. Draymond Green led the team in rebounding and in steals. The Spartans were just 108th in the country in points per game and just 57th in the country in points allowed per game. Both of those numbers need to improve if the expect to win a title.