Vincent Carchietta / USA TODAY Sports

Out of all the power conferences, the Big Ten has the wildest race for the regular-season crown. Four teams are within two games of each other at the top of the standings, as No. 8 Michigan State (13-3), No. 15 Michigan (13-3), No. 11 Wisconsin (12-5) and No. 16 Maryland (11-5) occupy the top spots. Tonight, the Michigan State Spartans and Maryland Terrapins square off at 6:30 p.m. ET from College Park in a showdown with major stakes for this title chase.

Michigan State at Maryland odds

  • Spread: Maryland -3.5
  • Total: 150.5
  • Money line: Maryland -173, Michigan State +144

The spread and total have not moved from their openers, with Maryland -3.5 and the 150.5-point total both staying put. The Terrapins are -173 on the money line (wager $173 to win $100) while the Spartans are +144 (wager $100 to win $144). The SportsLine Projection Model model leans to the Under in this matchup and projects one side of the spread to hit well over 50% of the time. You can see the model's latest projections, along with expert picks for Michigan State-Michigan, on SportsLine. 

There isn't a hotter Big Ten team than Maryland right now. The Terrapins have won eight of their past nine contests, with their last four coming by an average margin of 15.0 points. Maryland is heavily reliant on its starters, as all five are averaging at least 11.9 points per game and the next player after that is 4.2 points per game. Freshman big man Derik Queen is leading the charge at 15.9 points to go along with 9.1 rebounds. Him and senior Julian Reese (14.0 points, 9.3 rebounds) are a formidable duo down low and make it very tough for opponents to defend the paint. Two of Maryland's starting guards, Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Selton Miguel, are hitting more than 42% of their threes to provide a balanced attack. 

If Michigan State winds up with the Big Ten crown, it will have earned it after a grueling stretch to end this campaign. The Spartans close out the regular season with five of their last six games coming against top-25 competition. They took down No. 20 Purdue at home and No. 15 Michigan on the road in their last two games, keyed by dominant second halves in which they outscored them by a combined 21 points. Jase Richardson was the leading scorer for the team in both of those key contests, as the freshman guard is now up to 10.8 points per game—only trailing senior guard Jaden Akins' 13.0. The Spartans are ranked 21st in adjusted offensive efficiency and 12th in adjusted defensive efficiency on KenPom, making them one of just eight teams to be inside the top 25 in both. Another one? That would be Maryland (16th and 21st respectively).