MSU ROCKING THE SPORTS WORLD: XC, SOCCER, VOLLY, FOOTY, FIELD HOCKEY, HOOPS... YOU NAME IT!

And, for those not in the know:  We Spartans are ROCKING.   Michigan State just won the national championship in women's cross country.   And, on Saturday, the men's soccer team beat Washington in an overtime shootout. to advance to the Elite 8.

We're having another great year, Spartan fans!  Women's XC is #1, Men's Soccer is Top 8 (vs Providence Dec 5 at 1 pm), Football is #7, Men's hoops is #19, Women's hoops is #16, Field Hockey is #21, Volleyball is also advancing to the NCAA tournament (Dec. 5 vs Loyola-Marymount).

IT IS GOOD TO BE GREEN!!!!

Spartans in DC on Fri night: Head to Capitol Lounge for MSU-Loyola game

Hey, the ES is in Washington, DC, and will head on up to the Capitol Lounge (Capitol South stop on the blue/orange/silver metro lines) for tonight's 7 pm tipoff of our Big Green vs Loyola.  '

Come on and join the crowd!

The House of Payne

In men's hoops... Adreian Payne destroyed Virginia Tech tonight. #1 MSU won 96-77, but my God, look at his stats.

STARTERS	FG-A	3P-A	FT-A	ORB	DRB	RB	A	S	BK	TO	PF	PTS
Adreian Payne, F	10-15	4-6	5-5	2	8	10	3	1	3	0	2	29

Spartans ranked #1 USAT hoops, #13 BCS football

Wow.  Lookie here.  Tom Izzo's hoop team is ranked #1 in the land.  Mark Dantonio's gridders are ranked #13 in the BCS and climbing.  Hell, even the Big Green field hockey team defeated Syracuse in the NCAA tournament, ending the 'Cuse's 45 home game win streak (although we lost in the second round).

What a great year to be a Spartan.

USA Today Coaches Poll - M HOOPS
RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	MICHIGAN STATE (22)	3-0	789
2	Louisville (8)	3-0	761
3	Kansas (2)	2-0	735
4	Arizona	3-0	684
5	Kentucky	3-1	658
6	Duke	2-1	630
7	Syracuse	3-0	601
8	Ohio State	3-0	597
9	Oklahoma State	3-0	541
10	Virginia Commonwealth	3-0	443
11	Memphis	1-0	404
12	Gonzaga	3-0	381
13	Michigan	2-1	362
14	Florida	2-1	359
15	Wisconsin	3-0	332
16	Wichita State	4-0	330
17	Oregon	2-0	275
18	Connecticut	4-0	265
19	North Carolina	2-1	208
20	New Mexico	2-0	180
21	Baylor	3-0	131
22	Indiana	4-0	129
23	Creighton	3-0	111
24	UCLA	2-0	105
25	Iowa	4-0	74

• Others receiving votes: Marquette 71, Iowa State 49, Virginia 42, Boise State 21, Harvard 20, Pittsburgh 19, Georgetown 14, Notre Dame 13, Colorado 10, California 9, Tennessee 9, Saint Mary's 8, Massachusetts 8, Saint Louis 5, Missouri 5, Belmont 5, Arizona State 3, Villanova 2, Brigham Young 1, Utah State 1

• Dropped from rankings: Marquette 17, Notre Dame 22, Virginia 25

BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - FOOTBALL

		BCS		Harris Poll			USA Today			Computer Rankings
RK	TEAM	AVG	PVS	RK	PTS	%	RK	PTS	%	AVG	A&H	RB	CM	KM	JS	PW	%
1	Alabama	.9914	1	1	2620	.9981	1	1544	.9961	1	1	1	2	1	2	2	.980
2	Florida State	.9661	2	2	2517	.9589	2	1487	.9594	1	2	2	1	2	1	1	.980
3	Ohio State	.8869	3	3	2375	.9048	3	1404	.9058	5	4	3	4	6	5	7	.850
4	Baylor	.8856	5	4	2343	.8926	4	1386	.8942	3	3	5	5	4	4	4	.870
5	Oregon	.7917	6	5	2102	.8008	5	1231	.7942	6	6	4	9	5	10	6	.780
6	Auburn	.7860	7	7	1967	.7493	7	1145	.7387	3	5	7	3	3	6	3	.870
7	Clemson	.7681	8	6	2019	.7691	6	1217	.7852	7	9	6	6	8	12	5	.750
8	Missouri	.7231	9	8	1919	.7310	8	1129	.7284	8	7	11	7	9	9	8	.710
9	Stanford	.6238	4	11	1584	.6034	12	865	.5581	8	8	8	8	7	11	9	.710
10	Oklahoma State	.5890	12	9	1660	.6324	9	1030	.6645	14	12	12	15	20	8	18	.470
11	South Carolina	.5883	10	12	1459	.5558	11	882	.5690	10	10	9	11	11	7	10	.640
12	Texas A&M	.5394	11	10	1626	.6194	10	928	.5987	17	16	18	16	13	19	14	.400
13	MSU	.4646	16	13	1269	.4834	13	729	.4703	15	14	16	14	15	16	15	.440
14	UCLA	.4615	13	15	1110	.4229	14	700	.4516	13	13	13	17	12	15	12	.510
15	Fresno State	.4134	14	14	1126	.4290	16	622	.4013	16	18	19	13	25	13	13	.410
16	Northern Illinois	.3729	15	18	864	.3291	21	418	.2697	12	21	10	12	14	3	16	.520
17	Arizona State	.3414	19	22	570	.2171	22	352	.2271	11	11	22	10	10	14	11	.580
18	UCF	.3033	17	20	793	.3021	20	446	.2877	18	20	14	18	22	17	17	.320
19	Wisconsin	.2907	22	19	794	.3025	17	511	.3297	20	19	24	21	18	20	20	.240
20	Oklahoma	.2760	18	21	746	.2842	18	502	.3239	21	15	17	19	23	24	23	.220
21	Louisville	.2664	20	16	1010	.3848	15	627	.4045	26	NR	15	25	NR	NR	NR	.010
22	LSU	.2645	21	17	880	.3352	19	478	.3084	23	NR	21	NR	17	21	21	.150
23	USC	.1070	NR	23	202	.0770	25	115	.0742	22	17	23	20	21	23	24	.170
24	Ole Miss	.1048	NR	NR	110	.0419	NR	35	.0226	19	22	20	24	16	18	19	.250
25	Minnesota	.0604	NR	25	183	.0697	23	173	.1116	28	NR	NR	23	NR	NR	NR	.000

Duke favored by 1-1/2 over Michigan State

First off... don't forget to watch the Spartan women at 7:20 tonight on ESPN2 as they try to defeat Maryland to join the men in the Sweet 16.

Looks like the bookies in Vegas are making Duke an early 1-1/2 pt favorite over Michigan State.  Tipoff is 9:45 pm this Friday evening from Indianapolis.  Other lines:

• Indiana favored by 5-1/2 over Syracuse
• Miami favored by 6 over Marquette
• Ohio State favored by 4 over Arizona
• Wichita State favored by 3-1/2 over LaSalle
• Louisville favored by 10 over Oregon
• Kansas favored by 2 over Michigan
• Florida favored by 12-1/2 over Florida Gulf Coast

Nice to see Charles Barkley swallow his pride and his lunch; Barkley said

1. the Big Ten was overrated (4 out of 7 teams remain, Big Ten with a '10-3 record so far in the tourney).   
2. Memphis was more athletic than Michigan State (MSU defeated Memphis by 22 points)
3. the Pac 12 was underrated (Pac 12 is 5-3 so far, with 2 out of 5 teams still standing).

Methinks Sir Charles was better on the court than in the studio... although he certainly is entertaining.  

Spartans favored by 5.5 over Memphis

Line for Saturday is Michigan State by 5-1/2 over Memphis, and scUM by 3-1/2 over VCU. Gametime is 2:45 pm from Auburn Hills on CBS-TV.  I'd let u know about the freaking temperature, but while the game is played inside making it comfortable, its just gonna be winter-cold outside, as it has all March.  The groundhog must be quartered, and shot.  Promptly.

ES feels a key to the Memphis game will be the bodies, particularly the athleticism of Payne and Dawson with the bulk of Nix.  The interior needs to pitch a tent and dominate defensively, negating much of the Tigers' ability to block shots -- something St. Mary's didn't respect. 

As for predictions, all the Detroit News pundits predict MSU from 8-15 point victors; WTAE (Pittsburgh) predicts MSU 68-62; Memphis Commercial Appeal has a preview that notes the ability for Memphis guards to dominate the glass... Chicago Tribune notes MSU ability to dictate pace...

GO BIG GREEN MACHINE!  SPARTANS... WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION????!!!!!

Region of Doom: Pick Izzo and #3 MSU in the Midwest

It's March Madness... and the ES has been AWOL for travel across the country the last few days. Sorry for the delayed response, Spartan fans. 

But, it was nice to see MSU get a #3 seed in the Midwest, in the "Region of Doom."  When you think about how close MSU was in its two losses to Indiana, its loss at Michigan, and its loss to Ohio State in the tourney... well, the Spartans really had NO bad losses and are good enough to make a deep run. We'll see if Gary Harris' potential shoulder issue hampers Michigan State, but the bracket is a good one... let's take care of business in the first stanza, and potentially oust Duke and Louisville to advance to the Final Four.  That would be a nice capstone to a great season in an outstanding conference.

Nice to see the Spartans end the regular season polls in the top 10, at #9 - they certainly earned it.  And, the ES is enjoying the amount of publicity Tom Izzo and the Spartans are receiving, with Izzo being the dean of B1G coaches and having a great team.  Particularly loving this quote: "I'm looking forward to playing anybody [else]," Izzo said. "I'd play the Lakers tomorrow instead of some of the teams I've played recently."

Previews: a Mid-Major preview of MSU vs Valpo here; the Chicago Tribune preview picks MSU as a 72-58 winner.  A quick preview from Bracketologyexpert.com is here.

Here is the ESPN preview of the Midwest region.  And, Jay Bilas picks MSU to beat Duke, and for Michigan to bow out early.  The ES hates Pitino, and everything about him.  He is a poor ambassador for college basketball.  Thank goodness Kentucky didn't make it - Calipari is just as bad, if not worse.  In this tourney, the ES will be rooting for MSU and rooting against Michigan and Louisville.

Can't wait for tipoff -- for once, MSU gets the early game, this Thursday at 12:15 pm against little ole Valparaiso University... with the game right here in the state of Michigan.  The Palace will be crazy this weekend with Spartan Green and White.

ES has MSU picked in his bracket to the Final Four, and put down $20 in Vegas for the Spartans to win the whole damn thing.  NEVER PICK AGAINST IZZO IN THE TOURNAMENT.  Never.  And, is the Big Ten for real?  We should find out.  It was certainly interesting watching college hoops all year, and certainly Michigan  State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Indiana pass the eyeball test - they've looked GREAT all year long, even as they beat each other up. 

Here's the bracket. 

Big Green survive vs Iowa, unlike other wannabees

Unlike Michigan, or Duke, or Georgetown...

Michigan State also played its worst game of the year... but was talented enough -- especially on defense -- to pull out a victory in the Big Ten quarters vs. Iowa.  Now, time to bulk up for Ohio State at 4 pm ET tomorrow.  The ES is a stalwart believer of this Big Green team and its potential for a deep run in 2013.

In recent weeks, MSU has come close on the road but folded when it mattered most, but not today. The Spartans offensively played their worst game of the year but still found a way to win in the last 5 minutes.  Bring on the Buckeyes!  

B1G Ten Tourney.... Gholston HOF Cafe Watch Party... Vegas Title Odds

ES is all jacked up for the B1G Ten Tourney championship.  At around 3:30 today, ES was in a meeting with several colleagues today who figured last Sunday a few of us Spartans were pulling for the Wolverines to beat Indiana to get MSU a share of the regular season title. NOT!!!!  We SOUNDLY denounced his sacrilege and referred to the new Pope maybe needing to forgive our sins in tone and language.  At 3:30, we may have been the first to ask this Pope Francis for forgiveness... but NAHHH.

What is hilarious is the scUMbags get to play an extra game. Thanks, Francis, God is good.  ES could care less about the performance of those wearing stupid yellow-glow-in-the-dark blinding uniforms.  Bumble-bee uniforms in football, and blinding yellow high-lighters in basketball.  They may be great engineers and doctors, but they are color-blind artists in Ann Arbor.  We'll still kick their butt and their extra game.

JOIN GHOLSTON AT HOF, FRIDAY, 7:45
As for the tourney, well it shall be fun - the ES will be at the Spartan HOF Cafe with his fam and work colleagues at the Spartan HOF for a Mid-Michigan Spartan Alum watch party.  Wanna come out for some brews, food, auction items, and fun while we kick Iowa or Northwestern's bootie?  Game time, tipoff is ETA 7:45 pm on Friday, on BTN.

We'll be hangin' with William Gholston if you're interested...  Need to contact SRothw@aol.com if interested...  GO GREEN!

RPI RATINGS
OK, we'll be throwing some smack at Bracketology all week long if Lunardi doesn't give the Spartans props with at LEAST a #2 seed (and maybe a #1 if they win the B1G tourney?)  But real-time RPI ratings, which are significant in determining NCAA tourney qualifications, so far place the Spartans at #9. should be a great week in March, as is always!!!!  It is IZZO TIME.
FAVORITES?
Check out VegasInsider.http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-basketball/odds/futures/  Spartans are 12-1 to take the title, Michigan is 10-1, and Indiana is 9-2... ES likes our chances, and the $20 he put in the Spartans in Vegas in November.  Here are the full lines below:

Indiana	9/2
Duke	5/1
Louisville	6/1
Florida	7/1
Michigan	10/1
Miami, FL	10/1
Gonzaga	10/1
Georgetown	12/1
Michigan State	12/1
Kansas	15/1
Ohio State	20/1
Syracuse	25/1
St. Louis	30/1
New Mexico	30/1
Arizona	40/1
Pittsburgh	40/1
UCLA	50/1
Kansas State	50/1
Oklahoma State	50/1
North Carolina	60/1
Wisconsin	60/1
N.C. State	60/1
Marquette	75/1
VCU	75/1
Minnesota	75/1
Field (any other team)	100/1
Missouri	100/1
Butler	100/1
Kentucky	100/1
Memphis	100/1
UNLV	100/1
Notre Dame	100/1
Colorado State	100/1
Creighton	100/1
Wichita State	200/1
Illinois	200/1
Oregon	200/1
California	200/1
St. Mary's	200/1
San Diego State	200/1
Colorado	200/1
Belmont	200/1
Alabama	300/1
Oklahoma	300/1
Temple	300/1
Villanova	300/1
Davidson	500/1
Arkansas	500/1
Mississippi	500/1
Virginia	500/1
LaSalle	500/1
Iowa State	500/1
Tennessee	500/1
Vanderbilt	500/1
Baylor	500/1
Xavier	500/1
Cincinnati	500/1
Maryland	1000/1
BYU	1000/1
Purdue	1000/1
Seton Hall	1000/1
St. John's	1000/1
West Virginia	1000/1
St. Joseph's	1000/1
Drexel	1000/1
Stanford	1000/1
Southern Miss	1000/1
Mississippi State	1000/1
Providence	1000/1
Oregon State	1000/1
Ohio	1000/1
Northern Iowa	1000/1
Texas A&M	1000/1
South Florida	1000/1
Washington	1000/1
Dayton	1000/1
Clemson	1000/1
Rutgers	1000/1
Texas	1000/1
Florida State	1000/1
Long Beach State	1000/1
Northwestern	1000/1
Iowa	1000/1
Murray State	1000/1
LSU	1000/1
George Mason	1000/1
Marshall	1000/1
Virginia Tech	1000/1
Georgia	1000/1
Harvard	1000/1
Ole Miss	1000/1
Richmond	1000/1
DePaul	1000/1
Utah State	1000/1
Nevada	1000/1
USC	1000/1
South Carolina	1000/1
Georgia Tech	1000/1
St. Bonaventure	1000/1

 

Spartans crush Badgers: Jud's chooses MSU in Indiana v Michigan matchup

OK, so Wisconsin had its WORST shooting night in forever, and Appling woke up as Michigan State's men's hoop team smoked Wisconsin by 15 points last night, And Michigan State has an outside shot to a four-way tie for the Big Ten regular season title with Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan?... but only if Michigan beats Indiana.

The ES is 100% in line with coach Izzo's comments to ESPN in the pending Indy v Rodents matchup: "Izzo said his mentor, former Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote, wouldn't want him to root for rival Michigan to win in any circumstance.  'I'm going to pull for Michigan State,' Izzo said."

"Our defense was unbelievable," Izzo said.

Right.  These Spartans, who outplayed  Indiana and Michigan but folded very late in their losses, have the defense and the grit to make a deep run in the tourney.  If Appling comes to play from this point forward, the ES's $20 bet on the Spartans in Vegas to win it all may make the ES a rich  man for a day.

Joe Lunardi's Bracketology has the Spartans as a #3 seed in the tourney... but methinks this team has as much grit and determination as any Spartan Final Four team in recent years, and a win in the Big Ten championship tourney could make MSU an outside #1 seed.... 

Live CHAT: MSU at Michigan.

Spartans LIVE CHAT vs Michigan tomorrow at 4

Spartans taking on the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Sunday, 4 pm on CBS. The ES is heading to Las Vegas tomorrow, but leaving Lansing Airport at 7:30 pm. Thusly, he'll entertain a LIVE CHAT tomorrow for the 4 pm game. Come on over and chime in!!! Funny, Michigan is favored by 4 over the Spartans. The Vegas bookies just don't get it, do they? Myron Medcalf at ESPN predicts a 70-67 Spartan win over the little yellow men. ES sez Appling wakes up, and the defense puts up a wall to stifle the Wolvies.

MSU falls to Indiana, 72-68

Well, that sucked.  Lesson learned:  you GOTTA make your free throws, especially in the last 3 minutes.    That Oladipo dude is amazing.  Appling just didn't have his best game, shooting 1-of-8 from the field, 0-4 threes, and 4-7 FTs (including the front end of a one-and-one late). 

Congrats to Indiana - they made their shots when it mattered, the Spartans didn't. 

Something tells me we may see these teams play one more time, in the B1G tournament title game.

Halftime: Indy by 6

ES headed up to the Spartan HOF Cafe (which is jam-packed) and is ready for the second half.  Some thoughts on Indy's six-point lead:

• Indy scouted out Nix's reverse turn on his post drive, and have two steals off it.
• Appling's shooting is off; which is the fist-half norm for him this year.  He's not in foul trouble, but his shot is off... a word to Indy: watch out
• Dawson:  lots of energy, all over the place, but not where it needs to be.  He needs to be a bit more focused.
• Zeller is being contained, but so is Nix.
• Gary Harris needs to find some space to shoot more.  Maybe a few more screens.
• Oladipo is a tough matchup and really is amazing to watch.  But, watch Payne, too!
• Time for the second half!!!! 

White Out: Michigan State vs Indiana

Go BIG GREEN!  7 pm, Tuesday, at the Brez. 

Michigan State WHIPS Michigan by 30+

Welcome to the game. You think you got it -- then BRING IT.  Michigan State DESTROYED, devastated, and absolutely WHIPPED what Michigan thought they had in a men's basketball team.  It was so funny to watch, it was embarrassing, as Brenden Dawson jacked down jams, Keith Appling, Gary Harris drained treys, as Derrick Nix God Bless His Soul leaned in and hooked jumpers, and as the rest of the Spartans played 60-minute clamp-down defense to suffocate and belittle the game of Michigan.

If it wasn't so pathetic, it was hilarious.  Thanks to the good Lord above that this was broadcast on national television just for everyone to understand HOW FAR BEHIND THE SPARTANS that the little yellow men of Venus are. The ES was with Big Bob at the Peanut Barrel, and while rooting on Keith Appling and Gary Harris as they extended their defense beyond the 3-point perimeter for the WHOLE GAME was spectacular.  Loved the support from Payne and Dawson, defending the interior.

The ES just can't gush enough about Nix.  How many reclamation projects will Izzo endure?  Eric Snow, Kelvin Torbert, Tim Bokrakos, Drew Naymick, Goran Suton... now, Derrick Nix??

Unbelievable tonight.  What an ASS-BEATING.

A smack-down to reality.  Can we play scUM tomorrow?  Where, when?  Pretty please???

Michigan State hosts scUM. Stats on Eddie Hightower; pundits give edge to Spartans.

ES won't be dropping $95 for a nosebleed seat to watch this evening's matchup of #8 Spartans and Brenden Dawson beating up on the #5 Little Yellow Men from Venus... rather, I'm a gonna try and make it to either the Peanut Barrel or to the Spartan Hall of Fame Cafe to cover the game with some suds, and maybe Big Bob can make it?  Luckily it is a 9 pm game, which usually spells bed time for my youngest rugrat - so there's potential for a fun ride watching Michigan-Michigan State on the hardwood tonight.

Looks like the little yellow men are 1-1/2 point favorites, which is a complete joke.  The game tips off on ESPN, with Michigan-backer and Ann Arbor resident Mike Tirico unfortunately calling the play-by-play. 

PRAY FOR HIGHTOWER TO HIGHTAIL OUT OF MICHIGAN

I can't find out who the refs are for tonight's important matchup, dammit. Hopefully, Eddie Hightower isn't on the court: other than being BRUTAL and half-blind, according to StatSheet, in 2012-2013, Hightower he has been reffing games in which the ROAD TEAM has been the receipient of 2.3 more foul calls than the home team; but, this year shows an all-time low for him as a ref with number of fouls in a game, down to 35.8 per game (down from his all-time high of calling 43.4 per game in 2000-2001).  I guess there is some solace that he isn't as brutal as he was in the past (like putting perfume on a turd).

However, the Hightower standard deviation of home vs visiting team fouls is also amazing, which means the difference in each game from the average for the season.  A deviation of 4.5 for home teams is the second-highest of his career, and deviation of 3.3 for visiting teams is the lowest of his career... which means, if Eddie Hightower is reffing, he is more likely to vary wildly in his total calls against Michigan State than he is against Michigan.   [ES note: I can't believe someone has the time to calculate these stats, but thanks!]

NCAA Basketball Stats

NCAA Basketball Stats

NCAA Basketball

NCAA Basketball Stats

It looks like BTN's Dienhart is giving the Spartans the edge, as is SportsTracker/Freep. See ya at the pub!  GO BIG GREEN MACHINE!  Wipe the floor with Burke and his Boyz.

After slapping Purdon't... Bring on the Wannabees

Michigan State whipped Purdue today, 78-65... on the road. Yes, WHIPPED.  There was a point early in the game, when Spartan Brenden Dawson cut in and took a pass from Valentine and faked in and out and layed it up on the offside so fast and seamless and gorgeous, that it reminded one of Jason Richardson and put a stamp on his most dominating performance of the season.  Dawson had 20 pts. 

And, Dawson's best game was timely.  The dude is a freak of nature, and if he can control his speed and energy, he can be the best player in the nation. He is that good, and showed his potential tonight.  Derrick Nix was hitting with his lefty jump hook all game long, and grabbing interior boards fairly scrappily. ES is proud of Nix for really working hard to improve his game, but at the same time study and work toward graduation.

For the game, the interior of MSU dominated Purdue. Nix had 17 pts, Payne had 12 PTS... and with Dawson's 20 that's 49 interior of MSU's 78 total points.

This was one of the most dominating defense efforts of the year from MSU on the interior, really making any shot within 15 feet a battle just to get the shot off.  It was AMAZING watching the Spartan defense really make things difficult the entire game for Purdue on the inside. 

Appling (17 pts) played very well all game long and hit his shots as usual, but Gary Harris (8 pts) really really is coming on on both sides of the floor.  The two played FANTASTIC on defense to make up for their lack of offense in the game.

Russell Byrd saw a ton of time, more than any time all year.  In his 14 minutes, he missed three shots but played defensively the best he had all year long.  Actually, Alex Gauna and Matt Costello also played significant minutes and played very well.  This team is growing, learning, but has the right chemistry now to start making a very good, long, solid run in the conference and in the NCAA tournament. Why?  I can feel it, like many other Izzo teams before, this team is really jelling, getting its mojo. 

All around, an extremely solid road effort for the Spartans, STANDING ATOP OF THE BIG TEN.  The Big Green welcomes the little yellow on Tuesday. Bring it !!!!!! 

Spartan hoops and rankings

First off - ES is really fired up watching the MSU ladies in pink (Breast Cancer Awareness) beating the crap out of Michigan (by 14 points as of 10:00 remaining in the game); As for MSU men's cagers - both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll demonstrate the lack of awareness of both the media and coaches with respect to the Spartans' competition this year.

In the AP Poll, MSU is ranked #12, behind a team they beat (Ohio State #10, and two teams to which they lost, #1 Indiana, #8 Miami). How MSU can be ranked behind Ohio State makes no sense. In the USA Today Poll, the coaches ranked MSU #8, ahead of a team they beat (Ohio State #10) and ahead of a team to which they lost (Miami #11), but behind #1 Indiana, to which they lost. How MSU is ranked ahead of Miami is beyond me.

Bottom line:  polls don't matter much, as Tom Izzo has proven over the years with respect to the Spartan hoops' performance in the national tournament.   But here is the USA Today poll below for grins.

USA Today Coaches Poll
RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Indiana (25)	20-2	766
2	Florida (6)	18-2	742
3	Michigan	20-2	690
4	Duke	19-2	683
5	Kansas	19-2	654
6	Gonzaga	21-2	614
7	Arizona	19-2	601
8	Michigan State	18-4	518
9	Syracuse	18-3	514
10	Ohio State	17-4	502
11	Miami (FL)	17-3	485
12	Louisville	18-4	470
13	Creighton	20-3	369
14	Butler	18-4	325
15	Kansas State	17-4	314
16	New Mexico	19-3	295
17	Cincinnati	18-4	265
18	Minnesota	17-5	194
19	Oregon	18-4	179
20	Missouri	16-5	143
21	Georgetown	16-4	138
22	Wichita State	19-4	83
23	Ole Miss	17-4	69
24	Oklahoma State	15-5	57
25	Pittsburgh	18-5	54
25	San Diego State	16-5	54

• Others receiving votes: Notre Dame 47, Colorado State 38, Marquette 38, Virginia Commonwealth 33, Wisconsin 25, North Carolina State 24, Memphis 19, Saint Mary's 18, Southern Miss 13, UNLV 12, Belmont 7, Louisiana Tech 6, Middle Tennessee 4, Kentucky 4, UCLA 4, Oklahoma 2, Akron 2, Saint Louis 1

• Dropped from rankings: North Carolina State 19, Marquette 25

Live Chat: MSU at Indiana, second half