Breaking Down the Final Four - (2) Michigan State Spartans

No. 2 Michigan State Spartans (31-4 SU, 20-12-1 ATS)

Michigan State was this tournament’s second squad to chop down a No. 1, by upsetting Louisville as the 7-point underdogs on Sunday, 64-52. With the victory, the Spartans improved to 9-0 SU all-time as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

This will be Michigan State's fifth Final Four appearance in the last 11 years, the most in the nation. The online NCAA basketball betting community wearing green is also seeing green, as the Spartans have covered the spread in all four NCAA Tournaments games. Prior to shooting down the Cardinals, they eliminated last year's champion second-seeded Kansas 69-64 as 1-point favorites. They opened the dance by beating Robert Morris and USC, respectively.

Amazingly, as strong as Michigan State was throughout the regular season, at no time did they cover the spread consecutively more than three times, making their Big Dance 4-0 ATS stint its longest money-making streak this campaign. The Spartans were the heavy NCAAB odds on favorites to win the Big Ten Conference tournament priced at -120, but after disposing of Minnesota in cashing fashion, they were shocked by Ohio State, 82-70 as the 8-point favorites. After easily winning the Big Ten title with a 15-3 record, many believe the loss to the Buckeyes served as a wake-up call, and its hard to argue considering the way they've been playing ever since.

Guard Kalin Lucas leads the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game, followed by Raymar Morgan with 10.2 ppg. Center Goran Suton, averages 10.1 ppg for Michigan State and won the Midwest Region’s Most Outstanding Player award after collecting 39 points and 19 rebounds in the wins over Kansas and Louisville. The Spartans' also boasts Travis Walton, the Big Ten player of the year.

Keys to advancing: Michigan State will play UConn on Saturday, April 4, in Detroit (6:07pm EST) as the BetUS 4-point underdogs. To bark and advance past the Huskies, they have to trust its coach's dancing experience and success. Coach Tom Izzo's NCAA Tournament winning percentage is 75 percent (30-10 SU), which is third among active coaches.

They also need to take care of the ball, because turnovers have been a big issue for the Spartans all season. Finally, if Michigan State is to knock off another No. 1 in back-to-back games, Suton must be able to step out and hit his shots to move Huskies' Hasheem Thabeet away from the basket where he makes a living.

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