Michigan State Basketball: Will Spartans win Big Ten regular season title?

For much of the Tom Izzo era, Michigan State Basketball has been at the top of the Big Ten standings at the end of the year. That dominance has challengers this year though. Can the Spartans still win another conference championship?

Anyone who has watched Michigan State Basketball play this year can without a doubt say that the amount of talent in East Lansing makes the Spartans one of the most complete teams in not only the Big Ten, but in the country.

While the preseason publicity of Wooden Award candidate Cassius Winston and of the overall team has not necessarily lived up to the hype, MSU is still very much in the mix for the national title. In the Big Ten title race though, there are a couple of contenders that seem determined to knock the Spartans from the top.

Maryland, Illinois, Iowa and Rutgers all seem to have the best shots at winning the conference, alongside Michigan State, and accomplishing the task of conquering the mountain at which the Spartans sit atop of. While multiple teams have a shot to win it, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will, that is if Tom Izzo’s squad has something to say about it.

The Spartans own wins over then #12 Seton Hall and current #20 Illinois. While those wins may not be eye-popping and few and far between, they have still handled the tough Big Ten so far winning their way to a 16-6 (8-3) record. After all they were the preseason #1 team in the AP Top-25 for a reason.

Michigan State truly has almost every piece of the puzzle needed to be a successful and championship-winning program when it comes to this season.

Just ask any team that Cassius Winston has single-handedly beat this year, or any post player that has been tasked with trying to out-rebound Xavier Tillman. These two workhorses make up the leader in each of the major stat categories for the Spartans. Winston leads the way in points, assists and steals per game while Tillman is the leading rebounder and shot blocker. Not to mention Winston is making just under 40% of his three-point attempts this season.

Surround these two with the supporting cast of Aaron Henry (9.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg), playmaking freshman Rocket Watts (7.3 ppg) and veteran Kyle Ahrens and it’s easy to see why the Spartans are so successful.

Like I stated earlier though, the road to a conference and national championship this college basketball season won’t be easy.

After a matchup with #22 Penn State on Tuesday, MSU will then travel to Ann Arbor to face in-state rival Michigan, followed by back-to-back games at  #20 Illinois and at home against #9 Maryland. The Spartans then finish out the season with tests against Iowa, Maryland (again), Penn State and Ohio State. The remainder of the conference slate is shaping up to be a dogfight for the squad from East Lansing.

If we have learned anything from watching the Spartans in the Izzo era though, it’s that you never count Michigan State out.

So yes, I believe that the Spartans have the best chance to win the Big Ten title, both regular season and in the conference tournament, while they also have a great chance at making a run to the elite eight or final four.

This edition of MSU is hard to beat when they hit their stride and if that happens, then the rest of the college basketball world better be on alert.

Like I said, NEVER count Tom Izzo’s’ Michigan State Spartans out, I wouldn’t.