Popular ranking system has Michigan State basketball outside of Top 25 through 2 weeks

We are officially two weeks into the Michigan State basketball season, and the Spartans are 3-0 and awaiting a major showdown with Kentucky on Tuesday during the Champions Classic.

The Spartans have looked OK through three games, controlling the game against a solid Colgate team, beating No. 14 Arkansas thanks to elite play from the freshmen, and then coasting to a 19-point win over San Jose State that really set Tom Izzo off.

Really, the only clear downfall of this team, outside of not having a go-to guy, is the fact that the Spartans are one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the country.

In fact, through three games, Michigan State is a dreadful 13-for-60 from deep — no, that’s not even 25 percent. It’s been awful watching this team try to heat up from long-range.

Other than that, though, the Spartans look legit.

The offense has been getting better with Jeremy Fears Jr. leading the nation in assists, and Coen Carr taking that next step as an all-around player. The defense has been impressive, too. Holding Arkansas to just 66 points was not on the bingo card. But one popular rankings system is still not very high on the Spartans through two weeks.

According to Torvik, Michigan State isn’t even a Top 25 team yet.

Torvik is essentially a ratings-based model that rates offensive and defensive adjusted efficiency. It’s not very high on what Michigan State has done offensively through two weeks and it has the Spartans all the way down at No. 50 in the country.

That’s right, Michigan State is barely a top-50 team in the Torvik rankings using Weeks 1 and 2 data.

But hey, a Purdue team that just beat Alabama on the road didn’t even crack the top 25. This team has a ton of time to improve, and it hasn’t even scratched the surface yet.