Michigan State basketball proving to be 2022 Final Four caliber team

With only 10 games left in the 2021-22 season, is Michigan State basketball a Final Four caliber team? I think the answer has to be yes.

With the Spartans winning convincingly against Michigan, they move to 16-4 on the year and showed once again when they’re clicking, they are a force to be reckoned with.

This year, Michigan State started the season unranked which was a rare sight to see for Spartan basketball fans because since coach Tom Izzo took over, the program has always been great. As of Jan. 30, the Spartans are ranked 10th in the nation and are right up there with Wisconsin and Illinois, pushing for first place in the Big Ten.

With just 10 games left, do the Spartans look like a Final Four team?

I think at their best, this team can easily compete with the nation’s best. They have a very dynamic group and really good depth. The Spartans have a should-be Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Marcus Bingham along with a five-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week Max Christie who has shown this season that when he finds his shot he’s an extremely dangerous player.

Furthermore, as I said, the Spartans have good depth, having a guy like Malik Hall coming off the bench along with a player like AJ Hoggard who has shown glimpses of being a great game manager and being able to get the ball to a player in a tight window along with a great asset to the team when Tyson Walker is on the bench.

The Spartans have also had all this success with a struggling Joey Hauser though he did score a season-high 14 points in Saturday’s win against the Wolverines. Forward Gabe Brown is also going through a slump as of late.

The Spartans have shown resilience and showed that if their offense is struggling they can play lights-out defense to make up for the lack of offensive production.

If the team as a collective unit can all get hot at the same time, it could be extremely dangerous to whoever its opponent is. The problem has been inconsistency and certain players heating up and cooling off at different points. Take Brown, for example. All through December and most of January he was amazing. But in his last few games, he has started to struggle. If he can heat back up when guys like Max Christie, AJ Hoggard, and Marcus Bingham are playing well, the Spartans could potentially end the year in the top five.

Lastly, don’t let the four losses on the year make too big of a deal on your opinion on the Spartans. Yes, the losses to Northwestern and Illinois were difficult to handle but when they dealt with that, the Spartans have shown to come back and show everyone they have what it takes to compete with the best of them and they have the players to do so.

I think if the Spartans can learn to be more consistent, they could make a really deep run in March Madness and fans will be back to having fun.