Another game, another Jeremy Fears masterclass for Michigan State basketball.
The Spartan point guard had himself another elite performance over the weekend, scoring 26 with 15 assists in a top-five win over Illinois. The game came down to the wire, and Fears — and Kur Teng — sent the Spartans to overtime with some clutch plays in regulation.
With the win, Michigan State improved to 20-4 on the season and 10-3 in Big Ten play with seven regular-season games remaining.
Unfortunately, the Spartans lost to a bad Minnesota team earlier in the week to drop their second straight game. That two-game skid may be the difference between winning and losing the Big Ten title, but Michigan State will still have more chances to move up in the standings — the Spartans play Purdue and Michigan (again) still.
Sitting at No. 10 before a 1-1 week against Minnesota and Illinois, the Spartans had a chance to really make a statement. That Minnesota loss really marred what could’ve been a special week, and it might actually lead to a slight drop in Monday’s new rankings update.
Where will Tom Izzo’s Spartans be ranked?
If Michigan State beat Minnesota and lost to Illinois, I would say the Spartans would surely be dropping in the rankings. It was the other way around, though.
This is a tricky week to try and predict where Michigan State will be ranked because the Spartans mixed a top-five win with a really bad loss to a 10-12 team. Normally, I’d say that would equate to a drop, but with Gonzaga, Illinois, and Duke losing this week, there’s a chance the Spartans could move up.
I don’t see Duke falling much because it lost on the road on a buzzer-beater against North Carolina. Illinois might fall below Michigan State, but dropping the Illini 4-5 spots for losing on the road in overtime against a top-10 team doesn’t seem right. Gonzaga, on the other hand, will likely drop a bit after losing to 11-14 Portland.
Here’s who I think will fall below Michigan State this week:
- No. 6 Gonzaga
- Maybe No. 5 Illinois
And here’s who I think will jump the Spartans:
- No. 11 Kansas
- Maybe No. 14 North Carolina
With the two sure movers (Gonzaga, Kansas), and the two “maybes” (Illinois, North Carolina), I think Michigan State will probably land somewhere in the middle and sit at No. 10 for a second straight week.
I’m going to say Kansas jumps to No. 9, Gonzaga will fall to No. 13, Illinois will remain in the top 10 (No. 8?), and North Carolina will jump to No. 11.
There will be a lot of movement this week, but not for Michigan State.