Two cornerstone college basketball programs will go head-to-head on Tuesday night when No. 9 Michigan State takes on Louisville at 7:30 p.m. ET. The KFC Yum! Center is sure to be packed with rowdy Louisville fans as head coach Chris Mack looks to score a signature home win as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Despite the hostile crowd, the Spartans are five-point favorites, with a total of 153.5 in the latest Michigan State vs. Louisville odds, down from an open of 155. Tom Izzo's bunch is looking to continue their four-game winning streak, while Louisville is hoping to end a two-game skid. Before you make any Michigan State vs. Louisville picks, see what Vegas handicapper Zack Cimini has to say. 

The SportsLine expert enters Tuesday on an incredible 11-0 run on his college basketball picks. It's not a shock, actually, since Cimini has been crushing sportsbooks in college hoops for two-plus years, returning nearly $3,000 to his SportsLine followers.

Now, Cimini has dialed in on Michigan State vs. Louisville and locked in a strong point-spread pick. He's only sharing it over at SportsLine. 

Cimini knows the Spartans' backcourt of Cassius Winston and Joshua Langford are on fire. They scored 24 straight points to lead the 78-68 comeback win over Texas. Winston (18.0 ppg, 7.5 apg) shoots 45 percent from beyond the arc, while Langford (18.5 ppg) hits 48 percent. 

Michigan State has an eye-popping scoring margin of 23 points and has covered four of its last five non-conference games. 

But just because Tom Izzo's team is rolling doesn't mean the Spartans will cover a sizable spread at a notoriously difficult place to play.

Cimini also knows that Louisville's losses to Tennessee and Marquette at the NIT Tip-Off were an obvious setback, as a win in either game would have been a likely resume-builder come Selection Sunday. However, the Cardinals still have plenty of opportunities to impress, beginning with Michigan State on Tuesday night.

At home, they'll need the same Christen Cunningham they saw against Marquette. The Samford transfer had 16 points, three assists and two rebounds in that game and even though they lost, his performance was something that Louisville hopes will jump-start his season. SportsLine's model is calling for 10 points from Cunningham to go along with four assists on Tuesday.

Even in the loss to Marquette, Louisville covered a 3.5-point spread, and while sophomore forward Jordan Nwora only tallied 15 points in that game, he had at least 20 his previous three outings. He's had 17 rebounds combined the last two games.

We can tell you Cimini is leaning Under, but his much stronger play is against the spread. He's identified a crucial x-factor that causes one side of the spread to hit hard. He's sharing what it is, and who to back, only at SportsLine.

Who wins Louisville vs. Michigan State? And what crucial x-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side you should be all over Tuesday, all from the red-hot Vegas handicapper who's nailed his last 11 college basketball picks.