Michigan State Basketball: Top Three Bets for Opening Night

The Spartans will tip off their regular season tomorrow night, Monday, as they look to host Quinnipiac at 7:00 p.m. EST.

A slew of questions will begin to take shape, with the first game providing some early answers. Of course, those small sample sizes will surely be enough for some to overexaggerate just about everything.

With the game now just over 24 hours away, the betting lines are open for the Spartans. If you've been following my three best bets for every Michigan State football game, you'd know we've been doing pretty well and making some money.

Now, we're starting that same series, but with something new. I'll be sharing my three favorite bets before every Spartans men's basketball game, and we'll track the results throughout the season. No matter how good, bad or mediocre the picks might be, I won't let this series fizzle out.

So, without further ado, here are my first three favorite bets of the season.

I want to believe that Tom Izzo's Spartans are going to come out with their hair on fire, score triple digits and quickly put an end to the nervousness that came with losing their two big exhibition matchups.

Unfortunately, what I saw in those exhibition games was something that plagued the Spartans last season and doesn't appear to have gone away to start this year: slow offensive starts and difficulty making three-point shots.

I expect the Spartans to win this game with ease, but I also expect a slower-than-preferred start. With this being the first regular-season game for the four freshmen, I anticipate some early struggles as they continue to find their footing. That's especially worth watching with a group that has started to establish itself as one of the team's top three-point shooting options.

The Spartans win, but they don't reach 90 points.

Again, I'll preface this by saying I like the Spartans in this game, and I like them a lot.

However, I already believe the 29.5-point spread Vegas has set for this matchup is a bit too high in Michigan State's favor. Instead of battling the nearly 30-point spread, I'm going to buy Quinnipiac a few extra points and hope the Bobcats can stay within 32 points rather than 29.

That gives me one extra three-pointer of breathing room, which could come in handy considering the Spartans' struggles from beyond the arc.

That extra cushion might be the difference between winning and losing if you decide to parlay these three bets. Don't get greedy. Buy the alternate spread and give yourself some extra room.

Not to piggyback off my first bet, but the Spartans' scoring struggles could be a problem. Not enough to send fans running to their safe rooms, but enough for me to want to see some improvement before I believe the offense has turned a corner.

Marquette is no slouch of a team, but it isn't a top-25 program right now, either. Yet the Spartans struggled to score against the Golden Eagles, and when they finally found some offense, the hole was already too big to overcome.

Quinnipiac isn't Marquette, but the Bobcats are a very good team that could cause some commotion against Michigan State.

I expect enough resistance to make this more of a defensive battle rather than a game in which the Spartans have their way in a 100-60 blowout.

My prediction for this game was Michigan State winning 79-60, and I haven't wavered from that. That's 10.5 points below the current game total of 149.5.

Take the under.