Tom Izzo and Michigan State basketball continue to win games and they will be tested on Saturday at USC but while they have won 13 straight games and have the best record in the Big Ten at 18-2 and 9-0 in the conference, they continue to get shafted by the NET rankings.
What are the NET rankings? It's the system used by the NCAA to rank teams based on quality wins and losses, win percentage, games results, and strength of schedule, among other factors.
Basically, it values teams that win big, have quality losses, and have a strong schedule. While Michigan State's schedule hasn't been super strong thus far, that's only one of a number of factors that contribute to the NET and yet the Spartans seem to contantly be disrespected by them.
In fact, despite being 9-0 in the Big Ten and 18-2 overall, Michigan State is just No. 16 in the NET rankings as of Friday afternoon, according to Ant Wright on X.
Updated NET Rankings pic.twitter.com/rf9VnNKOqj
— ᗩᑎT ᗯᖇIGᕼT (@itsAntWright) January 31, 2025
The Spartans are behind Purdue (No. 9) and Illinois (No. 14) despite both having more losses and sitting at least two games behind Michigan State in the Big Ten standings.
I get it, the Spartans need more Quad 1 wins in order to improve in the NET, but still sitting behind an Illinois team that it beat a couple of weeks ago and which has lost to Maryland and Nebraska since (and sits at 14-7 on the year) is flat-out insane. It feels like we're being gaslit by the NET because it's bascially saying the Spartans need more quality losses.
Maybe if Michigan State beats USC and then UCLA on the road, it'll flirt with the top 10. But heck, losing those Quad 1 opportunities might actually help and move them up because of the "quality losses" category.
I kid, sort of.