Michigan State isn’t just a basketball school, it’s an everything school.
Although football isn’t going as hoped in Pat Fitzgerald’s first season, four different fall/winter sports are currently ranked in the top 10 as the month of October rages on.
Football might be just 2-5 after its fifth straight loss and second straight on the final play, but men’s soccer, women’s soccer, basketball, and hockey are all ranked in the top 10.
That’s right, four different Michigan State teams are ranked in the top 10 and only one of them has yet to play a game yet. Here’s where they stack up right now:
- Men’s soccer: No. 9
- Women’s soccer: No. 5
- Hockey: No. 2
- Men’s basketball: No. 6
Tom Izzo and the men’s basketball team are the only ones that have yet to play a regular-season game but they did flash some dominance in an exhibition game vs. Incarnate Word.
All four teams will be in legitimate national title pursuits this season.
Dan Bartholomae could see a national title in his first year
First-year athletic director Dan Bartholomae’s goal is to turn Michigan State back into a premier athletic department, and he’s off to a heck of a start.
Four different fall/winter sports have a chance to win national championships this season, led by hockey and basketball.
Women’s soccer has spent time as the No. 1 team in the country but has dropped down to No. 5 after losing to Michigan at home and No. 25 Purdue on the road so far in Big Ten play. Can’t be too mad at that. The 11-2-2 Spartans have four ranked wins this year and have nine shutouts in 15 games. They’ll play three more regular-season games, two of them will be home.
The men’s soccer team is 9-2-2 and ranked ninth in the country with two top-15 wins and just four games remaining. The Spartans are in the driver’s seat to win the Big Ten.
Adam Nightingale and the hockey team are legitimate national title contenders to begin the season, starting 3-0 with a loaded roster and an exhibition win over Boston College, too. The Spartans are dominating through three games with a combined score of 16-4. After three straight Big Ten titles, Nightingale is feeling some pressure to make his first Frozen Four. They’ll face No. 3 North Dakota in Austin, Texas, on Halloween.
Lastly, Izzo’s squad is looking like his best in a decade, beginning the season at No. 6 in the AP Top 25. The Spartans return the best player in college basketball (Jeremy Fears) as well as one of the deepest and most athletic rosters that Izzo has ever constructed. The expectations are a Final Four with the hopes of winning that elusive second national title under Izzo. We’ll see how close they are in Tuesday’s exhibition game against No. 4 UConn.
Bartholomae inherited four really good teams and he’s only going to help each one improve, along with football. This doesn’t mean a whole lot to the “football first” crowd, but it’s nice to see Michigan State have four different shots at a national title this fall/winter.
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