The Ole Miss Rebels and Michigan State Spartans will play in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 28, 2025. This game will be played at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA, setting up an interesting geographical wrinkle, with the game being played deep in the heart of SEC country. The higher seed will look to overcome that in this Ole Miss vs Michigan State matchup.
At BetMGM, Michigan State is favored by 2.5. They have set the total for this SEC vs Big Ten contest at 143.5 points. Before the action tips off from Atlanta on Friday, be sure to continue reading to get our thoughts on this matchup and to find out what bet we recommend for this South regional semifinal.
Ole Miss Looks For Another Fast Start
So far in this year’s NCAA Tournament, Ole Miss has started off fast in both of their games. They got out to a huge lead against both North Carolina and Iowa State, barely holding onto that lead against the Tar Heels while winning by a huge margin against the Cyclones. In this game, the Rebels will look for another fast start to give themselves the inside track to the Elite 8.
Ole Miss guard Sean Pedulla will be a key for Ole Miss if they are going to pull off a second upset in a row to get to the South regional final. Pedulla has scored exactly 20 points in each of the Rebels’ first two games in this tournament. With Michigan State being so strong defensively, Pedulla will have to work for everything he gets, but his toughness will surely lead to him savoring that challenge.
Can Michigan State Finish Strong Again In Sweet 16?
Unlike Ole Miss, Michigan State has got off to slow starts in their first two games in this tournament. They were in close games against Bryant and New Mexico at halftime in rounds one and two. But the Spartans blew both of those teams off the court in the second halves of those games to advance to the Sweet 16. Now the Spartans are the higher seed in their Sweet 16 game, but they could be in a hostile environment with this game being played much closer to Ole Miss’ campus.
Location concerns aside, the Spartans simply need to get off to a better start in this game than they have in their first two. Ole Miss is far too good and far too battle-tested to shrink in the second half the way that Bryant and New Mexico have against the Spartans. If Tom Izzo’s team isn’t locked in during the opening 20 minutes of this contest, they could be heading home.
Ole Miss vs Michigan State Prediction
Ole Miss +2.5 (-110) over Michigan State
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- Ole Miss has been blitzing good teams with fast starts so far in this tournament and we expect another fast start from them here.
- Michigan State has not been shooting the three with consistency and that could prevent them from stretching out any lead they do get.
