TK — After a season of adversity, all it took was the NCAA Tournament for the Spartans to catch a break. Jerel McNeal, Marquette's second-leading scorer and a hawkish defender, will miss the entire postseason with a nagging thumb injury. Imagine MSU without Travis Walton, then subtract another eight points a game — that's how much this injury hurts the Golden Eagles. I think a team's got to get to 70 points to beat MSU in this tournament, and without McNeal, I can't see Marquette being that team. Now, North Carolina on the other hand …

MSU 68, Marquette 59

EC — Tom Izzo said the key to the game was stopping Dominic James, the Golden Eagle's blink-and-you'll-miss-him guard, from getting into the paint. After seeing the job the Spartans did on Ohio State's Mike Conley Jr., a player with similar driving ability, I'm confident they can keep James in check. Goran Suton will notch a double-double, and Drew Neitzel will bounce back from a rough outing in the Big Ten Tournament to move MSU into the second round.

MSU 65, Marquette 59

SH — Sorry folks, but I'm feeling too shaky about the MSU team to pick them over Marquette. After ripping off four straight wins at home, MSU returned to its inconsistent ways by losing three of its last four on the road or at neutral sites. The Spartans should win if Neitzel rips off 25 points, if Raymar Morgan can contribute 15 and if all the bigs contribute with solid defense and rebounding. Unfortunately, I feel what they should do will be different than what they will do.

Marquette 62, MSU 56