Michigan State Basketball: 6 key aspects of possible national 2020 title run

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 25: Xavier Tillman #23 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates with Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans late in the second half of the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at the Breslin Center on February 25, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

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COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND – FEBRUARY 29: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Michigan State Basketball has fallen a long way from their preseason No. 1 ranking, but are they still good enough to win a national championship?

The 2019-20 Michigan State Basketball squad is one of those teams that can make college basketball experts look bad.

There wasn’t much debate or objection when Michigan State was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press preseason poll. After making it to the Final Four last season, coach Tom Izzo’s team received 60 first-place AP votes going into this season, followed by Kansas’ three votes and Kentucky’s two.

A loss in the season opener wasn’t the end of the world — there’s no shame in falling to Kentucky on a neutral court — but it did cost MSU that No. 1 spot. After non-conference losses to Virginia Tech and Duke, the Spartans were ranked No. 8 when they traveled to Big Ten rival Purdue on Jan. 12.

That was the beginning of a bad stretch for Michigan State.

They got cooked by the Boilermakers, 71-42, the first loss of a 10-game slate of conferences games in which MSU went 4-6. Some of those losses were to good teams, but some were still bad losses — e.g. blowing a seven-point lead against Maryland in the final three and a half minutes and letting the Terrapins end the game on a 14-0 run.

The Spartans have looked a lot better recently, though. They are currently on a three-game win streak: routing Nebraska on the road on Feb. 20, picking up a decisive home win over Iowa on Feb. 25, then avenging the loss to Maryland this past Saturday with a 78-66 road victory.

At 20-9 overall, 12-6 in the Big Ten, Michigan State is ranked No. 16 in the nation, moving up eight spots from the previous week after knocking off two ranked teams in Iowa and Maryland.

While they have dropped significantly from that preseason No. 1 ranking, is Michigan State still a serious national title contender?

There are six things a college basketball team should have in order to win it all in today’s game: Defense, 3-point shooting, versatility, experience, motivation and at least one go-to scorer.

Can a Michigan State team that has underachieved relative to expectations this season go all the way in the NCAA Tournament?

Let’s see if they check those six crucial boxes.

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