Bryan Power Sports: Free Picks & A Handicapper Review

10* Michigan State (7:00 ET): Michigan State has had a curious lack of success against Duke through the years. Their only win in the L10 tries against the Blue Devils came in the Elite Eight of the last NCAA Tournament played (2019), a 68-67 “upset” as 2.5-pt underdogs. Sparty is 0-3 SU all-time vs. Duke when matched up in the Champions Classic, plus they lost outright to them LY in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge 87-75 as 6.5-pt chalk. Things are different this year, however. I’ve got MSU rated as the better team, so this is looking like a good value. Take the points.

Michigan State is already 2-0 with wins over Eastern Michigan and Notre Dame. They defeated Eastern Michigan 83-67 as 22.5-pt favorites and then Notre Dame 80-70 as a 9.5-pt favorite. The Spartans shot better against Eastern Michigan, which is to be expected, but also played better defense vs Notre Dame. Joshua Langford is back after missing all of last season and the final 18 games of the year prior, which is a big boost. Also, don’t let that final score vs. ND fool you. Sparty led by as many as 28 in the 2H. 

After having its first game (vs. Gardner-Webb) cancelled, Duke finally opened its season on Saturday with an 81-71 win over Coppin State. They too opened a sizable lead (17 pts), but were unable to hold on to it. Still, the Blue Devils never even came close to covering the 39-point spread in that one. That was due to a combination of letting Coppin State make 10 three-pointers plus 22 turnovers. Duke is a young team and home court advantage doesn’t matter much in this scenario. MSU is 16-6 ATS after scoring 80+ points and I like them as a dog early in the season. 10* Michigan State

8* Salzburg (12:55 ET): Group A of the UEFA Champions League figured to be dominated by two European powerhouses (pun intended), Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid. Bayern, the reigning UCL Champions and best side in all of Europe, has already assured itself a spot in the knockout stage with a 4-0 start. But Atletico Madrid, who has been so dominant in La Liga this season, has struggled here on the international stage with just 5 points from their four matches. That has left the door open for the “other two sides” in the Group, Lokomotiv Moscow and Red Bull Salzburg, who meet for the second time on Tuesday. 

Lokomotiv has three draws and just one loss so far in the group stage. The loss was to Bayern and just a narrow one at that (2-1). They’ve drawn Atletico twice and the other was 2-2 with Salzburg. While that would seem to make the Russian side the favorites at home Tuesday, they are not. While they’ve fared better than expected so far in the Champions League, Lokomotiv has won just once in its last nine fixtures. Their most recent result was a 0-0 draw with Akhmat Grozny over the weekend. 

Salzburg has the dubious distinction of having conceded the most goals here in the group stage (14). But that can be excused by the fact they’ve had to play Bayern twice. They also lost to Atletico 3-2. But they’re not facing either of those sides here. While the path to the knockout stage is very narrow for the Austrian outfit, they can keep their hopes alive with a win here. They are the better side and should pick up that elusive first Champions League victory. On the domestic front, Salzburg leads the Austrian Bundesliga and scored EIGHT goals in their win over the weekend. 8* Salzburg