Spartans 'top dogs' in Big Ten standings

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This is why you don’t abandon ship when the MSU men’s basketball team loses to unranked Florida in November.

Just after Thanksgiving, the then-No. 2 Spartans had some serious weaknesses exposed by the Gators, bringing to mind questions about MSU’s lofty preseason expectations.

Since then — as typically is the case for a Tom Izzo-coached team — much has changed. Chemistry has improved as the difficulty for opponents to scout the Spartans’ variety of weapons has broadened. MSU’s bench routinely is outscoring opponents by double digits and its conference-best rebounding will continue to have out-of-town reporters asking about the War Drill for years to come.

Meanwhile, the No. 6 Spartans sit atop the Big Ten standings as the conference’s undisputed top dog. Once again, Izzo has displayed the true meaning and importance of a team growing to reach its ceiling. In November, he observed that the Spartans had a long way to go to reach theirs while the Gators were much closer to max capacity.

And, once again, the Spartans at their best are proving to be better than their conference foes at their respective peaks.

MSU went to Evanston, Ill., to meet a Northwestern squad off to one of the best starts in school history. They completely took the Wildcats out of their game and ran them out of the gym. Next came Wisconsin, a perennial thorn in the Spartans’ side and winner of six straight. The Spartans showed they could grind it out at the Badgers’ pace and win. Then came Minnesota, with its imposing frontcourt, and Saturday, the first-place Illini who entered with an unblemished Big Ten mark.

And on to the next one.

Now for the disclaimer: Izzo, in principle, likely disagrees with the premise of this column. And he might be right. The dysfunctional and baffling setup of the 18-game Big Ten schedule has looked more favorably upon the Spartans (four of the first six Big Ten games at Breslin Center) than, say, Ohio State — which opened with four out of five on the road.

Izzo recognizes things don’t get easier from here: After Wednesday’s game against Iowa, six of the Spartans’ next nine games are on the road. Two of the home games are against Purdue and Ohio State, which each have three losses but figure to play a key role in the conference’s final standings.

So, no, the Big Ten race isn’t over with seven weeks to go. But MSU currently is king of the Big Ten mountain with the keys to the castle until anyone says differently.

But numbers such as a three-game lead on Purdue, conference-best scoring offense or a rank of No. 3 in the nation for rebounding margin don’t do much for Izzo. The head coach treats “stat” like other four-letter words. But few lie and some prove ominous.

Only twice in program history have MSU teams began conference play 3-0. Both times previous (1999-2000 and 2008-09), the Spartans won the league and reached the national title game. And 10 years ago, an early season upset loss at the hands of unranked mid-major Wright State threw a kink in the plans of an experienced and highly regarded Spartan team.

Turned out OK for them, didn’t it?

Joey Nowak is the State News men’s basketball reporter. He can be reached at nowakjo2@msu.edu.

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