This week in college basketball, we saw two top 10 teams fall, and one of them dropped a home game. A couple of others nearly lost as UConn went to overtime and Gonzaga had to fend off San Francisco, only winning by two. Michigan State basketball, on the other hand, was able to hold on for two blowout wins.
Michigan State beat Oregon by 16 after struggling to pull away for about 32 minutes. The Spartans then returned to East Lansing from their two-game West Coast trip to face a hapless Maryland team.
And it wasn’t close.
Michigan State dominated Maryland from start to finish, beating the 8-11 Terrapins by 43 points to improve to 18-2 on the season and 8-1 in Big Ten play. The Spartans will face Rutgers and No. 3 Michigan this week with a 20-2 start to the season on the line — it would be the best start in program history.
Will the Spartans move up in this week’s rankings?
Where will Michigan State basketball be ranked?
It was a crazy week in college basketball, and a couple of top 10 teams fell while another nearly lost a shocker. No. 4 Purdue lost at home to Illinois without Kylan Boswell, which is a bad look, and it will surely lead to the Boilermakers falling — I also think Illinois is going to jump the Spartans.
Houston also lost on the road against No. 12 Texas Tech. That win by the Red Raiders will have them rising, too, but I don’t think it’ll be enough to jump Michigan State.
I think Purdue still stays ahead of Michigan State at No. 7 or No. 8 while Houston falls to No. 10 and Illinois moves up to No. 7. Michigan State is unfortunately going to remain at No. 10.
It’s hard to believe that an 18-2 team that’s likely to become 19-2 soon will barely be in the top 10, but that’s how top-heavy college basketball has been this season. There’s a chance Michigan State could remain ahead of Illinois, but winning at Purdue likely puts the Illini in for a 3-4 spot jump.
Michigan State’s blowout wins over Oregon and Maryland won’t be enough to earn AP voters’ respect.