The Michigan State Spartans have been arguably the hottest team in college basketball over the last month.
After a home loss to Indiana, MSU has beaten Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Maryland and Wisconsin. Four of those teams are ranked, while three of those victories came on the road.
The argument can be made that no team in college basketball is hotter than the Spartans right now and that very few teams have a better resume.
MSU is now 10-3 in Quad 1 games, which is more than Duke, Houston, Florida, Texas Tech, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Arizona and Wisconsin have. Those teams have higher NET rankings than the Spartans.
Of the teams ahead of them, only Auburn has more Quad 1 wins, tied with Alabama and Tennessee. If the Spartans beat Iowa and Michigan and have a good run in the Big Ten Tournament, they should earn a No. 1 seed in March.
MSU has shut teams down on the defensive side. It has limited its last five opponents to well below their season scoring average.
Michigan State has now held five KenPom Top 25 teams under 70 points in five STRAIGHT games
#22 Illinois – 65 (83.2 PPG)
#15 Purdue – 66 (77.4 PPG)
#25 Michigan – 62 (79.8 PPG)
#14 Maryland – 55 (82.1 PPG)
#9 Wisconsin – 62 (81.9 PPG)Limited teams to 22.9% 3PT shooting over… pic.twitter.com/NSI5wSNlUh
— dunc 🌎 (@SpartyWRLD) March 2, 2025
Despite not shooting well from beyond the arc, as long as the Spartans are defending and rebounding at a high level, they have a shot to beat anyone in the country.
MSU’s victory over a talented Wisconsin team is the latest show of dominance during its toughest stretch of conference play. Badgers star John Tonje entered the game averaging nearly 20 points, but he was held to just 3-of-13 from the field.
Despite going down by double digits early in the first half, the Spartans battled back, thanks to a hot shooting stretch from Jaden Akins. MSU has waited for Akins to get going all season, and the senior delivered from three-point range.
It has been four years since MSU’s last Big Ten title, and fans have grown impatient with Tom Izzo’s team not competing for one. With a win against Michigan next Sunday, the Spartans could clinch their first since the 2019-20 season.
There are still two games to play, but the Spartans are in an increasingly favorable spot to hang Izzo’s 11th Big Ten banner.
Given how hot they have been in the last month, that seems to be on track to becoming a reality.
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