2015 Elite 8 Odds, Free Picks & Predictions – East Region Louisville vs Michigan State Expert Picks

2015 Elite 8 Odds, Free Picks & Predictions – East Region Louisville vs Michigan State Expert Picks: The early Elite 8 odds on the East Region Final between Michigan State and Louisville have been released at top online sportsbook Bovada and the odds makers at Bovada have made #7 seeded Michigan State a -2.5 point favorite over #4 seeded Louisville with the game total listed at over/under 128.5 points. The game is scheduled to take place on Sunday afternoon at 2:20 PM EST from the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. This matchup is absolutely fantastic and has us excited to watch two of the game’s best head coaches and top programs match up in what should be a classic. Let’s take a look at this exciting Elite 8 matchup and make our expert picks and predictions on Michigan State vs Louisville in the Elite 8 East Region Final.

2015 Elite 8 Odds, Predictions and Free Picks – Louisville vs Michigan State East Region Matchup Preview

Head coach Tom Izzo leads his Michigan State Spartans back into the Elite 8 round for the 2nd consecutive season and the 9th time since he took over as head coach in 1995 in East Lansing, MI. Izzo is a flat out great coach and looks to take Michigan State back to the Final Four for the first time since 2010 and the 7th time in his head coaching career. Michigan State enters this Elite 8 matchup with a 26-11 overall record out of the Big Ten Conference and playing their best basketball of the season.

The Spartans are on a roll as they’ve won 7 of their last 8 games and have reached the Elite 8 by winning against #10 seed Georgia(70-63), #2 seed Virginia(60-54) and #3 seed Oklahoma(62-58). The Spartans are 1-2 against ACC teams this season as they lost to Duke(81-71) and Notre Dame(79-78 in overtime) in the regular season but finally broke through when they had to with their big win over Virginia in the 3rd round of the NCAA Tournament bracket.

The Louisville Cardinals enter this matchup at 27-8 overall out of the ACC Conference. Louisville is back in the Elite 8 round for the 3rd time in 4 seasons for head coach Rick Pitino and for the 6th time since Pitino took over as head coach in 2001. The Cardinals come into this Elite 8 matchup winners in four of their last five games including NCAA Tournament wins over #13 seed UC Irvine(57-55), #5 seed Northern Iowa(66-53) and #8 seed NC State(75-65).

Louisville will be looking to get back to the Final Four for the first time since it won the National Championship in 2013 and for the 4th time in the Rick Pitino’s tenure at the school. Louisville hopes to keep it’s success against Big Ten teams going against Michigan State on Sunday as Louisville has dominated the Big Ten this season. The Cardinals have gone 3-0 in three matchups against Big Ten teams with wins over Minnesota(81-68), Ohio State(64-55) and Indiana(94-74).

This Elite 8 matchup looks to be very close on paper. Michigan State comes in averaging 71.2 offensively as a team and allowing 63 points defensively, while Louisville enters with a 68.9 points per game average on offense and allowing only 59.4 points per contest defensively. The Spartans shoot the rock at a 46.8 percent clip as a team and the Cardinals shoot the ball at a 43.1 percent clip from the field. Both teams struggle from the free throw line as Michigan State shoots it as just 62.8 percent from the charity stripe and Louisville isn’t much better at 66.7 percent.

This game should be close throughout as both teams are very evenly matched in skill and toughness. Throw in the fact that both teams have easily two of the Top 5 head coaches in the game and you have all the makings for a barn burner. Having said that, we give the edge to Michigan State because they’ve been tested more in this NCAA Tournament so far against better teams in Virginia, Oklahoma and Georgia than Louisville has played in UC Irvine, No Iowa and NC State plus we simply find it hard to bet against Tom Izzo when the chips are down in March. The guy simply does more with less than any coach in the nation. Period. We look for Michigan State to take Izzo back to the Final Four for the 7th time in his Hall of Fame coaching career on Sunday and cover the spread against Louisville.

2015 Elite 8 Free Picks: Michigan State -2.5 over Louisville(Check the latest updated NCAA Tournament Odds from Bovada)