Michigan State basketball in exclusive club of national title contenders

Over the years, the teams that contend for, and win, the national title usually have one thing in common: they're balanced offensively and defensively.

This year, Michigan State basketball fits that criteria.

You'll probably hear plenty of facts regarding previous national title contenders from now until March regarding efficiency on both ends of the floor and what all previous winners were able to do. It feels like this year's Michigan State team could be in that conversation.

In fact, the Spartans are to this point in the season.

Michigan State is in the top-20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency on KenPom which the account above states is usually a prerequisite for national champions.

The other teams on the list are Duke, Auburn, Houston, Iowa State, Florida, and Illinois. That's right, there are only seven teams in the country that rank in the top 20 in both categories and that shows that there's an impressive amount of efficiency and consistency on both ends of the floor. Good teams are in the top 20 of one of these but great teams are in the top 20 of both.

Every team mentioned above has been projected to make a push for a Final Four and these may just be the seven best teams in college basketball.

Michigan State is in the top 20 of both, but it just snuck in after Wednesday night's games which means that there's some work to do still if it wants to stick.

The Spartans have had very few shortcomings this season and there's not much to complain about if you're Tom Izzo or the fanbase. Sure, the past two games have been shaky, but other than that, this team has taken care of business since Thanksgiving. Improving 3-point shooting as well as 3-point defense will help in this case.

Everything is coming together for this Michigan State team to be one of the last ones standing in March (hopefully April).