Big Ten Basketball: 2021 power rankings heading into conference tournament

Wins

*Eastern Michigan
*Notre Dame
*Detroit Mercy
*@Duke
*Western Michigan
*Oakland
*Nebraska (twice)
*Rutgers
*Penn State
*Indiana (twice)
*Illinois
*Ohio State

Losses

*@Northwestern
*Wisconsin
*@Minnesota
*Purdue (twice)
*@Rutgers
*@Ohio State
*Iowa (twice)
*@Maryland

Net ranking: 71

KenPom ranking: 60

AP ranking: N/A

Reasons for Hope: They have some good wins on their resume. The Spartans have two non-conference quality wins over Power Five teams as they defeated Notre Dame and Duke. In conference play, they have beat highly ranked teams in Illinois and Ohio State. Michigan State has shown moments where they have been able to compete and defeat some very good teams when they are focused and efficient on offense

Reasons to be Pessimistic: They are too inconsistent. Michigan State started the season 6-0 and undefeated. Then the Spartans were winless at 0-3 to start Big Ten play. They would then win two straight with an impressive 23 point victory over Rutgers but then lose by one point to Purdue the following game.

After a pause due to Covid-19 related issues, Michigan State would lose three straight games before regaining their footing and winning two straight. Right at that moment when it looked like the Spartans were back on track, they lose two straight by double digits. Then finally, Michigan State looked dominant like they did early in the season when they won on the road against Indiana and then defeated two top-five ranked teams in three days.

However, then the Spartans lost to Maryland on the road by double digits so the inconsistency is badly hurting Michigan State’s chances of making the NCAA tournament. The Spartans did beat Indiana and swept the Hoosiers in regular-season play but is that enough to get them into the tournament?

Brief Overview of the Season

Spartans desperately miss their two-star players in Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman from last season. Even though previously injured Joshua Langford and transfer Joey Hauser who had to sit out last season have contributed this season, neither has come close to the production lost by Winston and Tillman.

At the beginning of the season, the two players who were the main factors and contributors were  Rocket Watts and Aaron Henry. Watts offensive production has greatly decreased and Henry had had some great games offensively and then has some not-so-productive games on the offensive end.

Earlier in the season prior to Big Ten play, The Spartans had played solid defense with the exception of one game. In their first five non-conference games, the Spartans have held their opponents to 76 or under points and they had done a much better job in comparison to years past in limiting made three-pointers by their opponents.

However, in conference play, the defense has been wildly inconsistent. In losses to Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota Michigan State gave up 81 or more points on defense. In victories, the Spartans limited Rutgers, Nebraska, and Penn State to 58 or fewer points.

There could have been times, especially this season when the Spartans could have easily scored more but Izzo has inserted his bench early and often this season sometimes going 11-deep during multiple games and that was okay when things were going well. However, in a span where they lost seven of their first nine conference games, going 11 deep was not beneficial. It wasn’t until the Illinois and Ohio State games that Izzo and his staff limited the number of minutes of players coming off of the bench.

The Spartans may or may not make the NCAA tournament this year breaking one of the longest current streaks in all of college basketball. However, they are still a blue blood program and have won at least a share of the regular-season Big Ten title the past three years so don’t count them out just yet.  Michigan State next plays at Michigan on Thursday.