The Michigan State Spartans and Auburn Tigers battle for a spot in the Final Four.
The pregame narrative: Johni Broome has been a force all year for Auburn and I predict another strong performance in the Elite Eight. Also, take Michigan State to cover an alternate spread and Spartans’ guard Jase Richardson to fill the basket.
Check out my Michigan State vs. Auburn SGP predictions for their Elite Eight matchup on March 30.
Michigan State vs. Auburn predictions
Parlay: Michigan State +7.5 | Broome over 18.5 points | Richardson 15+ points (+310)
Michigan State +7.5 (-167): Firstly, I have to mention that Michigan State has only failed to cover this spread in two of their 36 games this season. That’s an incredible hit rate.
Both of those losses came in November, the first month of the season.
Auburn has covered this spread in all three March Madness games but fell short against some better competition leading into the tournament.
In the final four games, the Tigers lost to the Tennessee Volunteers, Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas A&M Aggies. The other contest was a five-point win over the Ole Miss Rebels
Those teams are at a similar level to the Spartans. Michigan State ranks in the top-25 for offensive and top-five defensive for rating, per KenPom.com.
Auburn could win this game; I’m not denying that, but this is too many points.
NCAA SGP legs
Broome over 18.5 points (-177): The hulking senior has been Auburn’s engine on offence all season long.
He ranked 49th in the nation in scoring (18.5 points per game) on over 50% shooting from the field.
Broome fell short of this total in the first two games but took over for Auburn in its biggest game against the Michigan Wolverines.
The most promising part about the forward is his volume. He wasn’t very efficient against Michigan, going 9-for-21 from the field.
But that’s a hefty shot total, and a similar performance would significantly increase his chances of scoring 19 or more points.
Broome has performed better against good teams. He averaged 20.1 PPG in 22 games against Quad 1 opponents this season.
Richardson 15+ points (-180): I went with Richardson 16-plus points in my Elite Eight prop picks, so why not tease it down a notch and include it in this SGP?
The shoot-first guard shot 50.2% from the field and 42.0% from 3 this season. He scored 15-plus in nine of 11 games in which he played 30 or more minutes.
The freshman improved as the year went on, surpassing this mark in six of the Spartans’ final seven games before the tournament.
He’s coming off his best performance, too. Richardson scored 20 points while hitting four of six 3s against Ole Miss in the Sweet 16.
Michigan State vs. Auburn predictions made at 10:25 a.m. on 03/30/25
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.