The Oklahoma Sooners have pretty sweet odds of beating Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 4 seed Sooners in primetime on Sunday will take on No. 5 Michigan State at Lloyd Noble Center with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. Once the matchup was set after OU's blowout first-round win over No. 13 Idaho, FanDuel opened the Sooners as 7.5-point favorites over the Spartans, as of Saturday morning. The over/under was set at 158.5 with OU having one of the most explosive offenses in the country.
Oklahoma opens as comfortable favorite over Michigan State in NCAA Tournament
Michigan State certainly wasn't impressive in its first-round showing, which likely led to the wider spread despite the teams being just a seed apart. The Spartans barely slipped by No. 12 Colorado State 65-62 in the first round in the game before OU at the LNC on Friday. Michigan State entered that game as a 13.5-point favorite.
The Sooners also surprisingly didn't cover their spread despite mounting a 89-59 blowout. The 30-point win was just shy of the massive 35.5-point spread FanDuel set. However, 7.5 points should be more likely for the Sooners if they win and eventually pull away against Michigan State.
Of the eight second-round matchups set for Sunday, OU-Michigan State is expected to be one of the closest games of the day, which likely influenced its primetime slot on ESPN. However, it still has a wider margin than the two other 4-5 clashes on Sunday. No. 4 North Carolina opened as only a 2.5-point favorite over No. 5 Maryland, while No. 4 Minnesota is favored over No. 5 Ole Miss by 4.5 points. Those are the only two matchups on the docket with larger spreads than OU-Michigan State.
Vegas obviously likes the Sooners' chances of making the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row. A win over Michigan State would likely set up a rematch with No. 1 South Carolina, which OU upset 94-82 in overtime earlier this season in Norman.
Despite that previous outcome, though, Vegas likely won't predict the Sooners to take down the Gamecocks again, but they also weren't expected to last time, either. That also means, though, no matter what Vegas predicts, nothing is a lock, especially in March Madness.