College basketball odds, predictions: Duke vs. Kentucky, Michigan State vs. Kansas picks, best bets Tuesday

Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State face off in the 2024 Champions Classic. Quickly becoming an annual tradition, the two-game event features three of the top four all-time winningest men’s college basketball programs. Last year at the United Center in Chicago, Duke out-dueled Michigan State, 74-65, while Kansas beat Kentucky, 89-84. This season, the event will be held at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.The Blue Devils will play the Wildcats, while the Spartans will play the Jayhawks. For what it’s worth, underdogs have done quite well in this four-team event, going 8-9 straight up and 12-5 against the spread since the event was introduced in 2011. (6:30 p.m.

ET, ESPN)On the surface, I don’t mind the matchup for Michigan State. Coach Tom Izzo will run an up-tempo ball-screen attack.The Jayhawks’ transition defense and ball-screen coverage looked useless against North Carolina, allowing 69 points on 52 transition and pick-and-roll sets, suitable for a whopping 1.33 PPP.Meanwhile, Izzo’s managed to scheme a relatively decent interior shell-like defense over the past few years, which should play against Kansas’ interior-based attack.

And I’m still worried the Jayhawks lack enough shooting or floor space to adequately support the DaJuan Harris-Hunter Dickinson-KJ Adams ball screen and post-up actions. But I’m worried about Sparty from a Jimmie-and-Joe’s perspective.Kansas has a two-way talent and experience advantage at every position. On the interior, Dickinson and Adams are dominant post-up and roll-man threats.

Michigan State lost two excellent interior defenders in the off-season (Malik Hall and Mady Sissoko), and this season’s replacements (Carson Cooper, Jaxson Kohler, Xavier Booker, Szymon Zapala) aren’t nearly as effective defensively and are non-existent offensively. On the Michigan State perimeter, it’ll be tough for Jeremy Fears, Tre Holloman and Jaden Akins to replace the elite two-way guard play that Tyson Walker and AJ...