Michigan State Spartans Basketball: Izzo's squad not as vulnerable as they appear

Despite the struggles the Michigan State Spartans have had recently, fans should not hesitate to take the country’s second ranked team far when they fill out their brackets.

It hasn’t been the smoothest ride for the regular season Big Ten conference champions the Michigan State Spartans. Even in their final game on Sunday, they struggled throughout much of the second half and even trailed to the lowly Wisconsin Badgers. Sunday’s result is nothing new for the Spartans, as the latter half of conference play has raised some concern for the team and understandably so.

The most notable of Sparty’s struggles, of course, was their game on February 17th in Northwestern. Trailing by 27 points late in the first half, Michigan State came storming back in the second half and ended up winning the game 65-60, the largest comeback in Big Ten history.

But it wasn’t just the Northwestern game that has folks in East Lancing concerned. Two weeks prior, Sparty limped through two road games against Indiana and Iowa, winning both by just three points. In each of those games, they held a sizable first half advantage before watching it be completely erased, only to come out on top by the skin of their teeth in the end. The Hawkeyes and Hoosiers are a combined 13-23 in conference play.

So why does Michigan State remain the second ranked team in the country? And why are we supposed to trust that they will still make a deep run in the NCAA tournament when it is time to fill out brackets?

The short and oversimplified answer is that regardless of any deficiencies experts can pick out, they are still 28-3, and 16-2 in Big Ten play, one of the nation’s top conferences. Also, they’ve been able to rattle off 12 straight victories in the midst of this period of time in which they haven’t been playing their best basketball.

All of that is somewhat comforting, but when it comes to be tournament time, all it takes is one loss. And with Michigan State, some may find it difficult to have confidence that they won’t under perform and exit the tournament early.

So that is where digging deeper is necessary to put all of our minds at ease. Roster composition is one area to look at. The Spartans are loaded with talent and depth, with strong guard and forward play. They have a rare combination of raw talent and experience, with seniors Tum Tum Narin and Gavin Schilling, as well as mature sophomore forward Miles Bridges.

The uniqueness of this group is how well they work together. Unselfishness is part of it, but even more so, the leaders of the team lead and the talented underclassmen such as Bridges do what is expected of them but don’t try to do too much. As a result, the team isn’t relying on a single performer to win games. They’re a unit, which provides more stability.

And then there’s the Izzo factor. Coaching is such an underappreciated element of the college game, and Tom Izzo has been in the business of taking a wide variety of groups of players deep in the tournament for quite some time now.

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All of this combined gives Michigan State an advantage that few other teams in the country currently have. The bottom line is, they don’t need to shoot well to win. They don’t need a strong performance from any one player to win. They can play poorly, and win. They have experience with all of this, which is only going to give them the confidence they need to win.

Plus, on top of all of this, it is also worth looking back and noting that all of the games which have caused concern to be raised were played on the road. This includes the loss to Ohio State and close calls against Indiana, Iowa, and Northwestern. Assuming the Spartans do earn a #1 seed in the tournament, they will be playing close to home until the Final Four round. They certainly won’t need to deal with any more hostile Big Ten environments.

Next: 2018 Big Ten Tournament Preview

So, don’t be afraid to take the Spartans deep into the tournament when you fill out your bracket. They’re prepared for another Final Four run.

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Michigan State basketball: Spartans not as vulnerable as they appear

By Jonathan Goehring | Feb 28, 2018

Despite the struggles the Michigan State Spartans have had recently, fans should not hesitate to take the country’s second ranked team far when they fill out their brackets.

More from Busting Brackets