Michigan State basketball is one of the most popular Final Four bets

Why is MSU such a popular pick?

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, about five percent of their bets on a team to make the Final Four are on Michigan State. This is the sixth-most out of all the teams in the tournament. How can this be, though? We’ve all seen this team struggle to a 19-14 record, so what’s going on?

• Really good odds

Of all the teams listed, MSU has the worst odds to make it to the Final Four by far. But that is part of the reason why so many people are betting on them. +2200 odds means that for every $100 you bet, you’ll win $2,200 if the bet wins. So if MSU happens to go on a magical run, you’ll get a really good bang for your buck.

• Mr. March

Another reason people are putting their money behind MSU is because of Mr. March himself, Tom Izzo. He has led Michigan State to eight Final Fours during his career, the most of any program in the country.

Not only has Izzo found the most success in the tournament, but he’s done it from a variety of seeds. Izzo has made the Final Four as 1-seed, a 5-seed twice, and even as a 7-seed. So it doesn’t matter what seed MSU has, if it’s in the tournament, every other team should be nervous.

• Favorable region

The last reason Michigan State is being bet on is because of the favorable draw in its region. A potential date with 1-seed North Carolina is looming in the second round, but the Tar Heels are the worst 1-seed this year. The next best seeds (Arizona and Baylor) would both be rematches for Michigan State as well which increases their chances at winning. And even the 4/5-seeds (Alabama and Saint Mary’s) don’t scare me. So if the Spartans can get by North Carolina, the rest of their region is very manageable.

Now I’m not saying you should go bet a lot of money on MSU to make the Final Four. I haven’t even convinced myself to do that after writing this. But this data tells me one of two things. Either the public really trusts Izzo or Spartan fans are degenerate gamblers.

Even though I won’t be betting any money on the Spartans, I wouldn’t be all that surprised to see them in Phoenix in a couple of weeks.