Michigan State has been in Los Angeles since last Friday and lost at USC on Saturday -- then changed hotels on Sunday. We recommended fading Sparty vs. the Trojans because I told you that as great a job as Tom Izzo is doing, this team is winning largely with smoke and mirrors and will lose to teams with some real NBA-caliber talent. UCLA is also one of those, is on a five-game winning streak and has been off since last Thursday. Th Bruins are among national leaders in scoring defense (64.5 ppg), turnovers forced per game (16.2) and turnover margin (+4.9).

The expansion of the Big 10 has been tough on teams going to the Coast across sports and Sparty is running into a Bruins team that survived a travel gauntlet and is back playing their best ball. Izzo's kids finally lost - at USC (tough travel!) - after racking up 13 straight wins with a schedule that highly-favored them. UCLA is 8-4 ATS at home and has won 5 straight and is finding its footing in the new conference. The Bruins are finally starting to shoot the ball better outside and they can bang on the inside. Michigan State was not going to run away and hide in the conference all season long. Play UCLA.