No. 2 Loser – Florida Gulf Coast Eagles
Dunk City had become the toast of the mid-majors and even the country. Last year they ran through the ASUN before losing to Lipscomb in a great conference championship game. They lost a lot from last year and their coach left for East Carolina. But even with that they brought in some key transfers and looked to be able to stay near the top of the conference.
Instead, they look like just a mediocre team who may fall to the bottom of the conference. This past week they played in the Gulf Coast Showcase and lost all three games including a 28 point loss to Toledo. They then followed that up with a loss to in-state rival FAU by 17. That makes for a 0-4 week where they were not very competitive.
No. 2 Winner – Michigan State Spartans
Michigan State lost their opener to Kansas and it’s almost like they fell off the map. Add in that their in-state rival Michigan has looked great early and was almost like the Spartans were forgotten about. Since then they have won five in a row including a 68 beatdown of hapless Tennessee Tech.
Those games were impressive, but not nearly as impressive as what they did this past week. They went to Las Vegas and handled both UCLA and Texas. UCLA was supposed to be on its way back and the Spartans beat them by 20 and it could have been worse. Then they took care of the Longhorns who just got done upsetting North Carolina and was riding high. Michigan State looked like the best team by far in Vegas and will look to use this to keep the momentum going against Louisville this week before they open up Big Ten play.