A tale as old as time: Michigan State basketball has dropped a couple of games in a row to start the month of February.
As we all know by now, the first week of February is statistically the worst of the season for Tom Izzo and the Spartans and it's usually followed by the best week of the season. So if that holds true, Michigan State will officially be out of the first week of February on Saturday and, wouldn't you know it, the Spartans face Oregon on Saturday afternoon.
That must mean a win is on the horizon, right?
All signs are pointing to that, but the Ducks aren't going to be an easy out. They may be on a losing streak, too, but Michigan State is fighting for first place in the Big Ten with nine games to go. This two-game skid definitely hurts, but here's why you shouldn't fret too much.
1. Michigan State still controls its own destiny
Fortunately for Michigan State, while it's no longer in first place with a cushion, it does control its own destiny in the Big Ten title race. The Spartans trail Purdue by percentage points and are locked up with Michigan, but they will host the Boilermakers in two weeks and also have two dates with Michigan in the final month.
On top of that, they also face Wisconsin in East Lansing in the coming weeks, their only meeting on the year.
The Spartans control their own destiny and if they win the games they should while stealing 1-2 on the road, they should be crowned Big Ten champions for the first time since 2020.
2. The resume has a chance to get much stronger
The Spartans are facing adversity for the first time since November and the last time they faced it, they responded with a 13-game winning streak.
While those 13 games didn't include a ton of impressive wins, they still beat solid teams like North Carolina and Illinois and smashed Nebraska and Washington by 30-plus points. The resume to this point has not been stellar, but the Spartans have a chance to polish it tenfold by March.
A lot of people are down on this team right now, but if this two-game skid works as a wake-up call (I believe it will), Michigan State has a chance to improve its resume to No. 2 or No. 3 seed status, at least, by the time the NCAA Tournament rolls around. They could still add wins over Oregon, Illinois, Purdue, Michigan (twice), Maryland, and Wisconsin to the resume. Even if they go 4-3 in those games, that improves the resume and likely locks up the Big Ten, silencing the doubters.
3. Tom Izzo has been through this before
Want to see a graphic that will make you feel much better about this recent two-game skid?
— Justin Spiro (@DarkoStateNews) February 5, 2025
That's right, the February lulls are nothing new and the past three most successful Michigan State teams went through this, too. The 2017-18 team lost two of three in January and needed overtime to beat a bad Rutgers team at home, the 2018-19 team lost three straight in February, and the 2019-20 team lost three straight as well.
All three of those teams won Big Ten titles.
Tom Izzo knows how to navigate tough stretches like this and come out on top and he's done it a number of times. Heck, one of the most dominant regular-season teams in recent memory (2015-16) lost three straight in January only to go 10-1 the rest of the way and win the Big Ten Tournament -- we won't talk about the NCAA Tournament that year for the No. 2 seeded Spartans.
I'm saying all of this to make a point: Izzo knows how to get out of this hole. Fortunately, he built enough of a cushion in the Big Ten to ensure that a skid like this wouldn't wipe away conference title hopes.