Live Chat: MSU at Indiana, second half

Can you do the limbo? Watch Spartan Hockey

My oh my, how the mighty have fallen.  Notably, Spartan hockey.  How low can you go? 

Michigan State is dead last in the CCHA (note: Michigan is next to last) and lost tonight at home to... Penn State?  This is a Nittany Lion program in their first year of varsity hockey, moving up from a club sport to an independent status, and without a real hockey arena at home.  And, the result?  Penn State wins, 3-2.  

And, it was on the Big Ten Network.  One word?  Embarrassing.  Sure, Penn State defeated Union and Ohio State early this year.  But, if you watched the game... the win at Munn Ice Arena was defining in how disorganized and lazy Michigan State was as the game wore on.  Don't blame goalie Hidebrand, who faced 50 shots - blame everyone else wearing Green and White.

Under Ron Mason, the team was a perennial Frozen Four team and CCHA champion.  Now, with a 7-16-1 record, MSU is on pace for one of its worst records in the last 35 years.  What an ugly game to watch.

Tom Anastos is gonna have a tough time selling Spartan tickets next year for the first year of Big Ten hockey.  Right now, Michigan State has to be considered dead last looking forward. Nice to give Penn State its signature win in its history.  From a hockey perspective, this was similar to Appalachian State beating Michigan football in Michigan Stadium.

Can't wait to watch Spartan men's hoops tomorrow at Indiana.  Bring back some green and white mojo in a MAJOR game toward Big Ten championships.  Anastos and the Spartan icers should take some notes from the men's basketball team on how to dig deep, especially defensively late in games.

MSU defining itself with win at Wisky

Michigan State M-hoops is beginning to define itself as one of those patented, gritty, tough Izzo-defensive teams. It all looks ugly, and that's just the way we like it. Add in a splash of growth in the post, and we've got ourselves a nice, fun team to watch. Look out B1G Ten, and look out country. Here comes the Big Green, again.  Thank God. 

Can't wait til February and March, when the Spartans REALLY SHINE. 

LIVE CHAT: #13 MSU at Wisconsin

Spartans alone on top of Big Ten; #13 in AP Poll

Wow, what an amazingly fantastic game yesterday, Michigan State topping Ohio State on the hardwood, 59-56. And, with Iowa beating Wisconsin, now the Spartans stand atop the Big Ten. MSU's bigs are for real, and as a group, make up the best interior defense in the conference.  Save for Deshawn Thomas and his 28 points, MSU snuffed out the rest of the Buckeye squad all game long.  Here are the standings.... next up: at Wisconsin on Tuesday.  Go BIG GREEN!   MSU has zoomed up to #13 in the AP poll.....

Big Ten Standings

TEAM	CONF	OVERALL
Michigan State	5-1	16-3
Michigan	4-1	17-1
Wisconsin	4-1	13-5
Indiana	3-1	15-2
Minnesota	3-2	15-3
Ohio State	3-2	13-4
Purdue	3-2	10-8
Iowa	2-3	13-5
Northwestern	2-3	11-7
Illinois	1-4	14-5
Nebraska	1-5	10-9
Penn State	0-6	8-10

RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Duke (39)	16-1	1,578
2	Michigan (11)	17-1	1,539
3	Kansas (7)	16-1	1,486
3	Syracuse (8)	17-1	1,486
5	Louisville	16-2	1,348
6	Arizona	16-1	1,270
7	Indiana	16-2	1,211
8	Florida	14-2	1,181
9	Butler	16-2	1,146
10	Gonzaga	17-2	994
11	Kansas State	15-2	927
12	Minnesota	15-3	905
13	Michigan State	16-3	831
14	Ohio State	13-4	701
15	New Mexico	16-2	659
16	Oregon	16-2	624
17	Creighton	17-2	611
18	North Carolina State	15-3	587
19	Virginia Commonwealth	16-3	433
20	Wichita State	17-2	363
21	Cincinnati	16-3	322
22	Missouri	13-4	234
23	Ole Miss	15-2	172
24	Notre Dame	15-3	123
25	Miami (FL)	13-3	93

• Others receiving votes: Marquette 92, Wisconsin 55, UCLA 41, UNLV 32, Wyoming 28, San Diego State 26, Colorado State 7, Memphis 6, Georgetown 4, Iowa State 3, North Carolina 3, Louisiana Tech 2, Pittsburgh 1, Bucknell 1

• Dropped from rankings: San Diego State 15, Illinois 23, UCLA 24, Marquette 25

Live Chat: #11 Ohio State at #17 Michigan State

Brace yourself for slugfest at the Breslin; Live chat tonite

Bring on the Buckeyes - should be one helluva slugfest, particularly with the great recent play of the Spartan bigs - Adreian Payne, Brendan Dawson, and Derrick Nix.  The depth in the post will be the difference on the defensive end late in the game.  F Deshaun Thomas and G Aaron Craft are the real deal for the Buckeyes, but the ES likes the matchup and MSU's depth, particularly home with a screaming Izzone at the Breslin.

Michigan State vs Ohio State.  Watch it on ESPN, 6 pm ET.  Live chat blog here on the ES, starting at 5:30 pm.

ES sez: MSU 66, Ohio State 63.

SOME HISTORY:
Love the history of MSU & Izzo vs Ohio State, provided by MSU Sports Info staff: Michigan State leads the all-time series with Ohio State, 65-54, including a 40-17 advantage in games played in East Lansing. The Spartans have won 25 of the last 36 games in the series. Tom Izzo is 20-11 in his career against the Buckeyes. And, through his first 17 seasons, Tom Izzo has won 412 games, ranking tied for second in college basketball history for most wins by a college coach in his first 17 years.

GO BIG GREEN!

Big Ten Approves New Divisions for 2014: Inactive and Not Alert

Jim Delaney, Grand Imperial Poohbah of college sports, has recently hinted his interest, and acceptance, of renaming the Big Ten's divisions, now "Legends" and "Leaders," with the recent addition of Rutgers and Maryland.  Delaney stated in an ESPN report that "I think on the other hand, we said we would test-market it, and we have for a couple of years. We have the opportunity to look at it again. I'm sure we will. Whether or not we change or not is to be determined."

What was most surprising are the top names for his consideration: "The fact of it is we were 'inactive' and 'not alert' for 22 years as we had 11 members."

Wow, so what would make an "Inactive" division and a "Not Alert" division?  There's a shock.  Let's see:

INACTIVE:
Indiana - Permanently inactive in football.
Maryland - By time they start in the fall, spring sports still won't be active.
Nebraska - Permanently inactive in basketball.
Ohio State - Cheaters on probation for this, that, or tattoos depending on the year.
Penn State - Inactive in football until 2017-2018.
Rutgers - See Maryland.
Wisconsin - Bielema was never alert, but FB is in question-mark mode.

NOT ALERT
Iowa - Ferentz dropped his guard on football to rise of MSU via Dantonio. 
Illinois - Got Zookified for 5 years in football and fired a great hoops coach in Weber.
Michigan State - Spartans go 7-6 and have an 0-fer in Big Ten FB at home in '12.
Michigan - Still crawling back from the depths of football and basketball hell.
Minnesota - Building a beautiful new football stadium where it is cold as ice.
Northwestern - Stealing Carmody from Princeton was brilliant; yet NW still has never been to NCAA's in hoops.
Purdue - The Boilermakers' impatience with Hope makes the ES scratch his head with what Purdue is (between Indianapolis and Chicago) and what it thnks it is (????, still trying to figure that out).   

Pray for Poseidon to flood Miami by 10 pm ET

Is it possible for there to be a tie in the BCS title game?  Jesus might not like it, but the vast majority of Americans would.  Alabama vs Notre Dame is about as awful of a matchup as there possibly can be for any college sports fan NOT from a trailer in Alabama and NOT a Catholic (educated or not).

It's Nurse Ratched (Kelly) vs. Sgt. Hartman (Saban)

I'd ask God to intervene, but if he did the Almighty might give HIS damn bias to those hoity-toity chumps from northern Indiana.

So, the possibilities for a tie?

A hurricane.  Maybe a severe earthquake or more likely, a tsunami, to hit the coast of south Florida?  We can all pray to Poseidon, the great Greek God of the Sea, that he will have his seas overwhelm and engulf most of the greater Miami region around the Orange Bowl sometime in the next 2 hours.

Personally, the ES is going to bed before this thing is officially over, because he can't stand the thought of either the Devil (Saban) or his assistant above (Kelly) going to the Promised Land.

The ES figures Alabama is gonna roll all over the Irish, but whatever.  It all makes me want to puke my guts out.  I hate 'Bama.  Even more, I hate the Irish.  If Poseidon intervenes, the world will be better off.

Too bad that Mayan-calendar-end-of-the-world thing didn't work out.  Ugh.

Quick Guide & predictions for the New Year Day Bowls

God I love January 1 bowl games. It's just so much damn fun to watch, with or without Michigan State playing.  Today's lineups are:

• Gator (noon, ESPN2):  Mississippi State vs Northwestern.  ES picks the Purple.
• Heart of Dallas Bowl (noon, ESPNU):  Purdue vs Oklahoma State.  ES picks the Okies.
• Capital One Bowl (1 pm, ABC):  Georgia vs Nebraska. ES picks UGA.
• Outback (1 pm, ESPN):  South Carolina vs Michigan.  ES picks his place of birth in the heart of Dixie.
• Rose Bowl (5 pm, ESPN):  Wisconsin vs Stanford.  ES picks the Trees.
• Orange Bowl (8 pm, ESPN):  Northern Illinois vs Florida State.  ES picks the Bowdens. 

And, other predictions:

• Biggest blowout:  Oklahoma State vs Purdue.
• Best game: Northwestern vs Miss State. 
• Biggest potential upset:  Wisky over Stanford, with Alvarez as coach he might do what Bielema couldn't.
• What ES will be watching:  Dallas, Gator, Rose, Outback. 
• Best guarantee of ES rooting for:  South Carolina over Michigan.
• Prediction of Big Ten in bowls:  2-5; 2 wins (MSU, Northwestern), 5 losses (Minny, Wisky, Purdon't, Corn, Maize). 

Hope everyone had a great 2012 and a happy and safe new year's.