The No. 12 Michigan State Spartans enter Sunday one-half game behind rival Michigan at the top of the Big Ten Conference, but I expect MSU to move back into a first-place tie with a win here against Ohio State Sunday afternoon.

The Buckeyes had a three-game winning streak come to an end with a 63-56 home loss to Illinois last time out. They have failed top 56 points in either of their last two games and are just 5-8 ATS against conference opponents on the season.

Michigan State meanwhile has answered a three-game skid with back-to-back wins over Minnesota and No. 23 Wisconsin. The Spartans are 18-5 ATS as a favorite this season and a perfect 2-0 ATS as a home favorite of 9.5 to 12 points. We can also note that they recorded an 86-77 road win at Ohio State on Jan. 5.

Ohio State can match the Spartans defensively, but considering MSU averages 87.4 ppg home at Breslin Center while Ohio State is scoring just 61.4 ppg on the road I think this looks like a spread the home team should be able to cover.

8* play on Michigan State Spartans.