It’s that time of year again! Yes, Michigan State basketball is doing what they always do in January or February. And of course, none of this will matter come March when Tom Izzo and company will once again be on fire. The Spartans have been known to pile on the ugly losses during the drab of another long East Lansing winter, but they do own the spring.
Watch it will happen again.
Sparty has received a severe beat down not but once, but twice from Iowa already, and Wednesday’s inexplicable home loss to Nebraska dropped them to 3-4 in conference play.
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Actually, the loss to NU is somewhat explicable as Michigan State basketball has dropped their last three meetings against Tim Miles’ team. The Spartans are experiencing a reverse “Ewing Theory” here. They somehow got worse when their best player, Denzel Valentine, returned from injury. Basketball is a weird game it does happen sometimes. The drop off is even more exaggerated when you consider how State was ranked #1 for much of the season.
They have that preconference signature win of all signature wins over Kansas (RPI 5) in the Champions Classic. They also have three more really nice non-conference wins over Louisville (RPI 20), Providence (RPI 24) and Florida (RPI 22).
In other words, the Michigan State basketball resume prior to the Big Ten season is about as good as anybody’s in the entire nation. Very surprisingly, they’re just 62 in strength of schedule. However, their RPI of 28 looks really good, and they have a chance to make another statement tomorrow when they host Maryland (RPI 9) in the first ESPN College Gameday on-site contest of the season.
I know, I know pretty much nobody cares about the hoops version of College Gameday, while the football edition of the franchise is a force of nature. Still, for what it’s worth, Michigan State basketball seem to host the preview show about as much as anybody in the nation.
After Saturday, you got three more chances to pad the resume before the “real season” begins. February 6th they’re at Michigan, o the 9th they visit Purdue. This is followed by a home date versus Indiana. And it goes without saying, but March is really what matters anyway.
Michigan State basketball is the Lt. John McClain, NYPD, of the Big Ten- always in danger at the beginning and in the middle, but always predictably triumphant in the end.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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