Well, for those of you who thought the Syracuse Orange did not deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament, they have surprised you, haven't they? With their patented matchup zone, they have caused a lot of headaches for their two opponents thus far, and they hope to the same against Michigan State Spartans in Sunday action in the Midwest regional. Game time is 2:40 PM ET, and while CBS televises it from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, BetAnySports customers can get their fill of real-time wagering as they access state-of-the-art software from Live Betting Ultra.

Syracuse (22-13 straight-up, 15-17-1 ATS) has vanquished its first two opponents by handcuffing them offensively. TCU scored 31 points below its season average, and Arizona State was held to a point total (56) that was 27.5 points below ITS average. So suffice it to say that Jim Boeheim's team is taking opponents out of their game.

But most observers would agree that the task is much more difficult here, as Michigan State, the #3 seed in the region, has put a lot of excellence on display at both ends of the floor. At 30-4 straight-up (15-18-1 ATS), they would have had a good argument as a top seed somewhere, had they been able to win the Big Ten tournament (they were upended by Michigan). In their opening game, they were four-point victors over Bucknell, as Miles Bridges, an All-American, had 29 points. The Spartans' defense allowed just 34% shooting from two-point range, which is phenomenal.

In the NCAA Tournament odds that have been posted on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, Michigan State which is a virtual home team, is the solid favorite:

Michigan State Spartans -9
Syracuse Orange +9

Over 129.5 points -110
Under 129.5 points -110

What is interesting to point out, particularly from the Syracuse side, is the fact that with all of that defense, they only won these two games by a total of nine points. While the matchup zone is incredibly hard to prepare for, Syracuse is just a very poor shooting team, ranking 307th inside the arc and 315th from downtown. Understand that this is a club that has capitalized a lot on second-chance opportunities, but now they have to go against the team that is first in the nation rebounding margin. Syracuse can most definitely make Michigan State work hard on the offensive end, but the Spartans are not necessarily a fast-breaking team by nature. And they also lead the nation in assists, so they are no stranger the ball movement. That is one of the things you have to have if you're going to get a good shot against this 2-3 zone.

Michigan State knows that it is going up against a team that is "long," but they've got some size of their own, in addition to an edge in quickness. Jaren Jackson, the 6-11 freshman center., is sixth in the nation in blocked shots (3.1 per game) and will almost certainly be NBA lottery pick. Then there is bulky 6-8 power forward Nick Ward, who statistically is the #1 offensive rebounder in the nation, according to the metrics available from KenPom.com. And then there's Bridges, who is quite simply one of the better players in the country.

We have some misgivings about the Spartans here, considering that they don't perform all that well against the pointspread. They have covered only two of their last 11 games, and they are on a 4-13-2 ATS run as a favorite. But Syracuse, playing its third elimination game in a five-day stretch, has only seven scholarship players available, so they could run out of gas in the second half. If they do that, Michigan State, which is 41% from three-point range as a team, has all the ability in the world to stretch the margin. So we are laying the points, in a measured recommendation.

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