NCAA Basketball top 25 power rankings: Tennessee and Villanova rise, Alabama falls
By Joey Loose
12. Michigan State (10-2)
Gabe Brown is not a household name, at least not yet, but he’s done more than enough to put these Spartans in an excellent place once again. One of the best programs in the Big Ten, Michigan State continues to pump out national-title caliber teams under Tom Izzo and this year’s unit looks no different, especially with their play in recent weeks.
Michigan State dropped tough games to Kansas and Baylor, but have played very impressively in their other contests. Among the wins on their resume are nice wins over Connecticut, Loyola-Chicago, Louisville, as well as a pair of Big Ten wins over Minnesota and Penn State. They may not have taken care of those two top-rated Big 12 foes, but the Spartans certainly look like a force and played really well in nonconference play.
The season began with impressive defense but the Spartans offense has really stood out in recent weeks, including in last week’s win over Oakland, where Marcus Bingham Jr. had 17 points and 12 rebounds. Michigan State is in fine shape to contend for a Big Ten title in a year where the conference has one great team and a lot of others competing in that second tier. Still, the Spartans play good defense and their interior offense has looked stellar in recent weeks.