Michigan State basketball is now the favorite to win the Big Ten in 2024-25

The Big Ten has a new favorite to win the conference in 2024-25 and it happens to be Michigan State basketball.

Michigan State basketball fans hoping for a year with tempered expectations may have to keep dreaming.

After two solid showings in Spain with a couple of international wins, Michigan State has been bumped up to the favorite to win the Big Ten on Caesar’s Sportsbook. The Spartans jumped the previous favorite, UCLA, on Sunday.

MSU basketball now the favorite to win the B1G pic.twitter.com/kJ0sF6eBvW

— W.R. (@WRswagdaddy) August 18, 2024

This is a fairly shocking development considering the Spartans lost Tyson Walker, AJ Hoggard, Mady Sissoko, and Malik Hall from a team that barely snuck into the NCAA Tournament after starting last season ranked in the top five. It was a disappointing year overall, but Michigan State still lost its best players from that team and replaced them with a couple of transfers and a three-man freshman class.

But Vegas apparently has seen enough from this Spain trip to dub the Spartans the new favorites to win the conference at +425 odds. That seems like a wild jump considering they’ve only played two overseas games.

It must have been that 105-59 win over Valencia that caught Vegas’ attention. The Spartans dominated a team of grown men by nearly 50 points and their presumed leading scorers were relatively quiet (Jaden Akins and Frankie Fidler scored in double figures, but Jeremy Fears and Xavier Booker combined for just nine points). The depth being showcased by Tom Izzo’s team is impressive and I think that’s why the hype is building.

Behind Michigan State and UCLA are Illinois, Purdue, and Indiana who all have odds lower than +1000.

On a national level, Caesar’s has Michigan State basketball as the 13th-best national title contender. These odds are all shocking considering some early preseason projections had Michigan State finishing near the middle of the new 18-team conference.

Izzo has more expectations to live up to now, fair or not. It’s time to get back to the top or die trying.