Michigan State Basketball: 5 reasons Spartans will beat Hurricanes

Mar 9, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Miles Bridges (22) dunks the ball as Penn State Nittany Lions guard Josh Reaves (23) looks on in the first half during the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

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Nov 11, 2016; Honolulu, HI, USA; Arizona Wildcats center Dusan Ristic (14) battles for rebounding position against Michigan State Spartans forward Nick Ward (44) at the Stan Sheriff Center . Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Spartans battle-tested for this scenario

You don’t play teams like Arizona, Baylor, Duke and Kentucky in non-conference play to get nothing out of it. The Spartans schedule the early-season gantlet in order to prepare for the postseason and Tom Izzo has made that evident over the past decade.

While it didn’t pay off much during the regular season, the Spartans have faced tougher teams than Miami before, not saying that the Hurricanes are slouches, though.

Don’t sleep on the tough Big Ten schedule, either. While national pundits would tell you this was a down year for the conference, the league was competitive from top to bottom. Teams like Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan are all well-tested and gave the Spartans a challenge, toughening them up for the NCAA Tournament.

As Izzo would say, there’s a method to the madness. He schedules a ridiculous non-conference slate which gives his team a few losses every year, almost, heading into Big Ten action, but they end up coming out stronger because of it.

We have yet to see the potential of this team and you may just witness it on Friday.

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