Michigan State (22-5) vs. Minnesota (17-10)

Filed under Game Preview on February 21st, 2012

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You can bet that Williams Arena will be buzzing on Wednesday as Michigan State visits Minnesota in a Big Ten bout. It all starts at 8:30 EST and you can catch it on Big Ten Network.

Michigan State is currently in 1st place in the Big Ten and Minnesota is in 9th. A win here could also improve the Spartans #6 AP ranking. Additionally, Minnesota is ranked #72 in the RPI, so Michigan State has an opportunity to improve its 10-5 record against RPI Top 100 teams. The Spartans stand at 22-5 overall and are 11-3 in the Big Ten. The Golden Gophers maintain a record of 17-10 including 5-9 in the conference.

Michigan State is decidedly the favorite here.

Michigan State has seen Minnesota already this season, and beat them 68-52 on January 25th. The Spartans went 2-0 against the Golden Gophers last year, winning by an average margin of seven. Over the last four seasons, Michigan State is 10-1 against Minnesota, including 4-0 at Williams Arena.

• Michigan State has a much lower average debt at graduation according to Kiplinger than Minnesota ($19,696 vs $26,516).
• We have a history of cultivating talent. Over the past 10 years Michigan State has had more players drafted by the NBA than Minnesota (5 vs 2).
• Michigan State has a better shooting defense (37.2% vs 41.5%) than Minnesota this season.
• Michigan State players are more experienced than Minnesota players (12,244 minutes played vs 11,910 minutes played).

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