Big Ten Basketball: Michigan State rise in rankings at end of regular season

Victories

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

Defeats

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

Net ranking: 67

KenPom ranking: 55

AP ranking: N/A

B1G Tournament Seed: 9

Possibility of Post-Season Tournament: 99%

Reason for Hope: They have some great wins on their resume as they are the only team in America to have beaten three highly ranked teams in Illinois, Michigan, 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 and clamp down on defense. No team in the Big Ten and or America wants to face the Spartans in the conference or NCAA tournament.

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

Then near the end of the season, 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 but lose to Maryland and Michigan by double digits before beating Michigan at home. Who knows what Spartan team will show up in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.

Big Ten Tournament Opponent: Maryland

Victories

*Liberty (neutral site)
*Oakland
*Valparaiso
*Indiana State
*Ohio State (twice)
*Notre Dame (neutral site)
*Maryland
*Michigan State (twice)
*Indiana (twice)
*Penn State (twice)
*Minnesota
*Northwestern
*@Nebraska
*Wisconsin

Defeats

*Clemson (neutral site)
*@Miami
*@Iowa
*@Rutgers
*@Illinois
*Michigan
*@Maryland
*@Minnesota

Net ranking: 20

KenPom ranking: 13

AP ranking: 20

B1G Tournament Seed: 4

Possibility of Post-Season Tournament: 100%

Reason for Hope: They have won their last five games and the Boillermake defense with the exception of a couple of games has been absolutely amazing. They have held teams to 65 or fewer points 13 times this season as well as hold teams to 58 or fewer points six times this season. In their last four games, their defense has held teams to an average of just under 59 points per game.

Reasons to be Pessimistic: They have not defeated quality teams away from their home court overall this season. For example, their only two decent and quality road wins this season have been against Ohio State and Indiana. In order to make a run in the Big Ten tournament and more importantly in the NCAA tournament, they need to play well away from their home court and score more than 75 points against better quality opponents.

Big Ten Tournament Opponent: The winner of the Ohio State vs. Minnesota/Northwestern game