How many teams in college basketball can beat a top-five team after losing a starting-caliber guard for the season and still lose respect nationally? Other than Michigan State, I can’t think of a single team that would be disrespected after winning an intense, tightly-contested battle against the No. 5 team in the country.
Unfortunately, that’s the reality.
After beating Illinois on Saturday, the number of people who came away with good things to say about the Illini and bad to say about Michigan State was actually mind-numbing.
”Illinois solidified itself as a Final Four threat” and “Illinois might be a No. 1 seed” were real takes I saw after the Illini fell at the Breslin Center to Michigan State in overtime.
”The refs were on Michigan State’s side” and “Jeremy Fears is dirty” were two of the main takes that I saw from the other side. No “wow, this Michigan State team shot the ball better and looked sharper in this game” or “Michigan State belongs” takes. Just bashing the Spartans for winning in overtime against a top-five team.
Before beating Illinois, Michigan State was knocked for not having a Quad 1A win yet, but after picking one up over one of the best teams in the Big Ten, it somehow doesn’t matter anymore. It’s like it never happened.
The disrespect is real.
Michigan State is going to need a repeat of 2024-25
If Michigan State wants to garner some type of respect instead of being listed as the 12th-best team in Andy Katz’s power rankings or No. 14 in national title odds, it’s going to have to repeat what happened near the end of the 2024-25 season.
The Spartans were considered good, but they had just lost at home to Indiana and needed to go on a run in the toughest stretch of the season to remain in the Big Ten title hunt. They did just that:
- at Illinois (W 79-65)
- vs. No. 13 Purdue (W 75-66)
- at No. 12 Michigan (W 75-62)
- at No. 16 Maryland (W 58-55)
- vs. No. 11 Wisconsin (W 71-62)
- at Iowa (W 91-84)
- vs. No. 17 Michigan (W 79-62)
- vs. No. 23 Oregon (W 74-64)
Yes, those were consecutive games. Michigan State beat six ranked opponents in an eight-game stretch. Now, the Spartans will need to do something similar with a tough stretch approaching — and it also started with an Illinois win.
- vs. No. 5 Illinois (W 85-82)
- at Wisconsin
- vs. UCLA
- vs. Ohio State
- at No. 12 Purdue
- at Indiana
- vs. Rutgers
- at No. 2 Michigan
Obviously this stretch isn’t quite as tough, but if Michigan State can beat Wisconsin and then UCLA and Ohio State at home, I think beating Purdue and Indiana on the road can be filed under “very possible”.
Rutgers should also be a win, but exacting revenge on Michigan won’t be easy.
To finally get some respect, Michigan State is likely going to need to finish the season 6-1 with a win over Purdue or Michigan. Unfortunate, but that’s how it’s looking.