Michigan State football should be #2

Congrats to Florida State; the ES was pulling for Auburn to give MSU a shared national champion.  That said, the final polls should be:

#1 Florida State (14-0)
#2 Michigan State (13-1)
#3 Auburn (12-2)

... then, everybody else. Associated Press voters have nothing to do with the BCS. They should do the right thing to vote MSU #2, particularly after the SOLID PERFORMANCE by the Spartans in their victories in the Rose Bowl over #5 Stanford, and the B1G Ten Title game over then-#2 Ohio State.  As the ES said earlier, "Why Not Us?"

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

MSU at #11 in both polls

Just on the outside lookin' in - your Michigan State Spartans are now up to #11 in both polls, the AP and USA Today/coaches polls. MSU is a 24-pt fave at Central Michigan this week.

Here is the AP Poll:

AP Top 25
RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Alabama (45)	1-0	1481
2	USC (11)	1-0	1435
3	LSU (4)	1-0	1382
4	Oregon	1-0	1295
5	Oklahoma	1-0	1170
6	Florida State	1-0	1135
7	Georgia	1-0	1083
8	Arkansas	1-0	992
9	South Carolina	1-0	980
9	West Virginia	1-0	980
11	Michigan State	1-0	915
12	Clemson	1-0	788
13	Wisconsin	1-0	664
14	Ohio State	1-0	634
15	Virginia Tech	1-0	604
16	Nebraska	1-0	603
17	Texas	1-0	584
18	Oklahoma State	1-0	558
19	Michigan	0-1	446
20	TCU	0-0	355
21	Kansas State	1-0	339
22	Notre Dame	1-0	198
23	Louisville	1-0	190
24	Florida	1-0	145
25	Stanford	1-0	131

• Dropped from rankings: Boise State 24

• Others receiving votes: Boise State 79, Tennessee 73, Brigham Young 63, North Carolina 48, Baylor 38, Utah 34, Washington 15, Georgia Tech 14, Ohio 10, TEXSTATE 10, Missouri 7, Texas A&M 5, South Florida 5, UCF 4, Mississippi State 3, Auburn 3, Cincinnati 2

MSU #12 in ES Top 25 Preseason Consensus Football Poll

Here is the 12th annual ES Consensus Top 25, preseason for the 2012 college football season. It's 90 degrees in East Lansing today, and as we enter the dog days of summer, the national media is falling in love with the hungry, dominating Spartan defense.  MSU right now stands at #12 in the consensus polls - with a high rank of #10 by SI.com and a low rank of #19 by, who else, yes the Spartan-hater Phil Steele.

How does this work?  The ES has been calculating a preseason consensus way back since he started in 2001.  He takes some of the more highly touted rankings in national magazines and websites and gives each football program a point based on their preseason rankings by the media outlet, 1 point for #1, 2 points for #2.... 25 points for #25..  If a team is not ranked, it receives 26 points.  The final points are then averaged by the number of publications to come up with a consensus point ranking.  

This year, the 11 media outlets considered (to date) are: ESPN, Fox Sports, About.com, Athlon, NCChamps.net, CBSSports.com, SI.com, CFN Scout, Rivals Yahoo, Lindy, and Phil Steele

Below, each ranking is listed by the media outlet; an "x" indicates no ranking of that team within the Top 25, thus receiving 26 pts.  The ES may add a few more as the regular season draws nearer... but it is not surprising that each year, the ES consensus top 25 fairly closely mirrors the preseason USA Today and ESPN media polls. Click on the image below to download the full graphic.

MSU NOT favored by 5 over the Irish; Spartans move up to #15

Michigan State, after its defensive-minded, dominating annihilation of Florida Atlantic, 44-0, now travels to take on 0-2 Notre Dame, which decided to fold about :23 seconds too soon in its 35-31 loss at Michigan last Saturday.

The 2-0 Spartans, which moved up to #15 in both the USA Today and AP Polls, open as 5-pt favorites UNDERDOGS (SEE POST BELOW) over the Irish in South Bend.   Iowa is favored by 3 at home over Pittsburgh; Michigan by 29 at home over EMU; JoePa by 9.5 at Temple; Wisky by 16 vs Northern Illinois (in Chicago); Minny by 3 home over Miami (Ohio); Nebraska by 17.5 home over Washington;  Arizona State by 1.5 at Illinois; Northwestern by 7 at Army;  Purdue v SE Missouri State and Indiana vs SC State have no line...

As for the Big Green, it moved up to #15.  Here's the USA Today poll for good measure:

USA Today Poll
RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Oklahoma (44)	1-0	1453
2	Alabama (8)	2-0	1410
3	LSU (7)	2-0	1372
4	Boise State	1-0	1214
5	Florida State	2-0	1211
6	Stanford	2-0	1165
7	Oklahoma State	2-0	1072
8	Wisconsin	2-0	1033
9	Texas A&M	1-0	1001
10	Nebraska	2-0	911
11	South Carolina	2-0	863
12	Virginia Tech	2-0	842
13	Arkansas	2-0	825
14	Oregon	1-1	754
15	Michigan State	2-0	639
16	Ohio State	2-0	566
17	Florida	2-0	498
18	Arizona State	2-0	353
19	Auburn	2-0	331
20	West Virginia	2-0	304
21	Texas	2-0	260
22	South Florida	2-0	230
23	TCU	1-1	211
24	Baylor	1-0	171
25	Mississippi State	1-1	125

Dropped from rankings: Missouri 19, Penn State 20
Others receiving votes: Michigan 97, UCF 49, Houston 43, Northwestern 31, Penn State 29, North Carolina 23, Tennessee 21, Missouri 21, Georgia Tech 9, Maryland 9, Clemson 8, Washington 7, California 6, San Diego State 3, Georgia 2, Iowa State 2, Brigham Young 1

Michigan State football ranks top 25 nationally entering 2011

With the spring game 2 days away, and it looks like sunny skies with 65 weather (beauty!), I need to post how the Big Green Machine ranks looking toward the fall.

Mind you, the ES will post a more extensive listing here by Mid-May, but thanks to my bro out in Chi-town, he notes MSU's national prowess (despite our being thumped by 'Bama). And, yes, this is all football, NOT men's hoops:

It's nearly May - we're 4 months and 5 days away from opening kickoff for MSU. Here's a quick glance of preseason rankings via a quick google search:

www.bleacherreport.com - MSU #10 (2nd in B1G behind Nebraska, #1 Oklahoma)
collegefootball.about.com - MSU #14 (4th in B1G behind OSU, Nebraska and Wisc, #1 Oregon)
collegefootballcafeteria.com - MSU #13 (3rd B1G behind OSU and Wisc, #1 Oklahoma)
fftoolbox.com - MSU #25 (B1G behind everyone, #1 'Bama)
espn.com - MSU #16 (3rd in B1G behind OSU and Wis, #1 Oklahoma)
nationalchamps.net - MSU #12 (2nd in B1G behind OSU, #1 Oklahoma)
sbnation.com - MSU #10 (2nd in B1G behind Nebraska, #1 Oklahoma)

Our first game is against Youngstown State (no, that isn't a typo) on 03 September.

MSU football 2011-12 early rankings at #12 and #16

OK - sorry Spartan fans... Delayed posts by the ES here. Da ES is swamped into dissertation work, so your patience is appreciated. But, two important points.

#1 - Michigan State ended up ranked in football #14 in both the AP and USA Today polls (see below). Not too shabby - much better than what most of us anticipated at the beginning of the year.

#2 - The Spartans are ranked decently in very early power rankings for the 2011 season. Look at Rivals at #12 and at SI.com at #16 .

Sez Rivals:"Almost all of the key skill-position players will be back, and if Dantonio and his staff can remake the linebacker corps, the Spartans will be in excellent shape." Sez Andy Staples at SI: "Quarterback Kirk Cousins and tailback Edwin Baker lead a large group of returning starters that should keep the Spartans competing for the Big Ten title. After laying an egg against Alabama in the Capital One Bowl, Michigan State has a lot to prove in the first season of the new-look Big Ten."

Northwestern men hoops ranked first time since 1969; it is Michigan State's 44th week in a row

Here is the most recent basketball poll. Kudos for Northwestern for making in the AP Top 25 list for the first time since the ES was only 6 months old... in January 1969. That's 40 years! It was before man even landed on the moon. But, this is the AP -- they ain't buying it over at the USA Today poll, where N'western sits at #30.

As a comparison, Michigan State's men's basketball team has been ranked in the AP Top 25 each and every week since the beginning of the 2007 season. That's 44 straight weeks in the regular season.

Still, it's pretty nice to have them as company for once. Welcome to our world, Wildcat fans!

AP Top 25

1. Kansas (52) 11-0 1,607

2. Texas (11) 11-0 1,556

3. Kentucky (1) 13-0 1,476

4. Purdue 11-0 1,407

5. Syracuse (1) 12-0 1,398

6. West Virginia 10-0 1,309

7. Duke 9-1 1,241

8. Villanova 11-1 1,177

9. North Carolina 9-3 1,033

10. Connecticut 9-2 1,002

11. Michigan State 9-3 910

12. Kansas State 11-1 892

13. Georgetown 9-1 813

14. Tennessee 9-2 664

15. Ohio State 10-2 605

16. Mississippi 10-2 544

17. Washington 9-2 490

18. Temple 9-2 403

19. New Mexico 12-1 352

20. Texas Tech 10-1 334

21. Clemson 11-2 300

22. Florida State 11-2 252

23. Wisconsin 10-2 180

24. UAB 11-1 178

25. Northwestern 10-1 144

Others Receiving Votes Gonzaga 129, Georgia Tech 102, Dayton 94, Texas A&M 91, Florida 76, Miami (FL) 60, Brigham Young 55, Oklahoma State 37, Wichita State 35, USC 27, UNLV 26, Butler 19, Memphis 16, Mississippi State 13, Wake Forest 12, St. John's 10, Virginia Tech 7, California 7, Cincinnati 7, Baylor 7, Cornell 5, Missouri State 5, Northern Iowa 5, Rhode Island 5, William & Mary 5, Seton Hall 2, Army 1. Dropped From Rankings Florida 18, Texas A&M 19, Butler 20, Gonzaga 25.

MSU #12 men's hoops, #13 ice hockey, #16 women's hoops

A healthy time for Michigan State in college athletics. In men's hoops, MSU is ranked #12 in both polls (Jeff Sagarin puts MSU at #23, CollegeRPI has MSU #59). In women's hoops, MSU is ranked #16 in the AP poll. In the UCHO men's ice hockey poll, MSU is #13. And, the best part about it? The scUM Yellow Bellies ain't ranked anywhere.

ESPN/USA Today Men's Basketball Poll: MSU #12.

1. Kansas (30) 9-0 774

2. Texas 8-0 735

3. Kentucky (1) 10-0 701

4. Purdue 9-0 675

5. Syracuse 10-0 658

6. West Virginia 7-0 631

7. Duke 7-1 547

8. Tennessee 7-1 528

9. Villanova 9-1 524

10. North Carolina 8-2 497

11. Georgetown 8-0 494

12. Michigan State 8-2 423

13. Florida 8-1 367

14. Connecticut 6-2 358

15. Georgia Tech 6-1 229

15. Gonzaga 8-2 229

17. Butler 7-3 184

18. Ohio State 7-2 176

19. New Mexico 10-0 164

20. Texas Tech 9-0 150

21. Washington 6-2 146

22. Kansas State 9-1 136

23. UNLV 7-1 112

24. Clemson 8-2 110

25. Mississippi 8-1 77

Others Receiving Votes Cincinnati 76, Texas A&M 58, Wisconsin 58, Illinois 25, Temple 24, Memphis 21, Florida State 20, Brigham Young 17, Saint Mary's 17, Oklahoma State 15, Wake Forest 15, St. John's 14, Charlotte 14, Northwestern 13, Seton Hall 9, Dayton 9, Tulsa 9, Washington State 9, William & Mary 9, California 7, Missouri State 3, Western Carolina 3, Mississippi State 2, Northern Iowa 1, Baylor 1, Coastal Carolina 1. Dropped From Rankings Texas A&M 18, Cincinnati 19, Wisconsin 23.

What about RPI Ratings for men's basketball? MSU sits at a pretty #59 in the most up to date collegerpi.com ratings.

Rank	School	W-L	RPI	Rank	Rating	AP	USA
1	Duke	7-1	0.7406	1	0.6899	8	8
2	Kansas St	8-1	0.7182	2	0.6670
3	West Virginia	7-0	0.6944	27	0.5926	6	7
4	Texas	8-0	0.6809	42	0.5746	2	2
5	St. John's	8-1	0.6806	20	0.6027
6	Temple	8-2	0.6792	8	0.6302
7	Purdue	9-0	0.6747	56	0.5663	5	5
8	New Mexico	10-0	0.6716	62	0.5622
9	Connecticut	6-2	0.6655	3	0.6651	14	12
10	Syracuse	10-0	0.6655	73	0.5539	7	6
11	Washington	6-2	0.6640	5	0.6546	17	16
12	Southern Miss	3-1	0.6623	30	0.5915
13	Villanova	9-1	0.6586	51	0.5686	3	3
14	Western Carolina	8-1	0.6574	55	0.5664
15	Georgetown	8-0	0.6569	94	0.5426	15	13
16	California	6-3	0.6544	4	0.6631
17	Texas A&M	7-2	0.6518	11	0.6213	16	18
18	William & Mary	6-2	0.6471	28	0.5920
19	Kansas	9-0	0.6458	117	0.5278	1	1
20	Kentucky	10-0	0.6454	118	0.5272	4	4
21	VCU	6-2	0.6414	26	0.5933
22	Tulsa	6-1	0.6410	50	0.5689
23	Missouri St	9-0	0.6402	134	0.5203
24	Cornell	7-2	0.6365	40	0.5807
25	Dayton	7-2	0.6359	25	0.5958
26	Texas Tech	9-0	0.6359	151	0.5145	23
27	UNLV	6-1	0.6336	38	0.5822	18	17
28	North Carolina St	7-1	0.6302	53	0.5683
29	Northern Iowa	7-1	0.6282	83	0.5481
30	San Diego St	7-2	0.6262	76	0.5529
31	Wisconsin	7-2	0.6252	39	0.5810	20	23
32	Richmond	7-2	0.6239	60	0.5630
33	Mississippi	8-1	0.6220	98	0.5410	25
34	St. Mary's	6-1	0.6205	69	0.5571
35	Tennessee	7-1	0.6196	91	0.5449	9	9
36	Vanderbilt	5-3	0.6161	9	0.6270		25
37	Butler	7-3	0.6141	35	0.5855	22	20
38	Long Beach	3-4	0.6107	7	0.6333
39	Rhode Island	8-1	0.6087	167	0.5038
40	Northwestern	7-1	0.6085	93	0.5428
41	Oklahoma St	8-1	0.6048	164	0.5054
42	Harvard	7-2	0.6041	125	0.5234
43	Xavier	6-3	0.6014	22	0.5998
44	Virginia Tech	8-1	0.5986	169	0.5035
45	Clemson	8-2	0.5982	85	0.5476		24
46	Ohio State	7-2	0.5978	81	0.5497	13	15
47	Loyola (Chicago)	5-2	0.5976	109	0.5325
48	Gonzaga	7-2	0.5961	86	0.5469	21	22
49	Mississippi St	7-2	0.5951	61	0.5627
50	Pittsburgh	8-2	0.5949	84	0.5476
51	Seton Hall	8-0	0.5944	246	0.4593
52	Coastal Carolina	5-2	0.5927	108	0.5331
53	Western Kentucky	5-3	0.5895	41	0.5801
54	Minnesota	7-3	0.5887	44	0.5720
55	Maryland	5-3	0.5880	23	0.5977
56	Hofstra	6-3	0.5862	57	0.5654
57	Georgia Tech	6-1	0.5860	159	0.5098	24	21
58	Florida	8-1	0.5856	187	0.4925	10	11
59	Michigan St	8-2	0.5852	140	0.5171	12	14
60	Florida St	7-2	0.5851	173	0.5009

ICE HOCKEY NATIONAL RANKINGS

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll: MSU #13

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Miami	(48)	13-2-5	998	1
2	Denver	( 2)	11-5-2	900	2
3	Colorado College		11-4-3	841	6
4	Cornell		7-2-2	805	5
5	Boston College		10-3-2	717	10
6	North Dakota		9-6-3	672	3
7	Wisconsin		11-5-2	657	11
8	Quinnipiac		13-3-1	639	7
9	Yale		7-3-2	609	8
10	Bemidji State		13-4-1	594	4
11	Ferris State		13-3-2	556	13
12	Minnesota-Duluth		11-6-1	434	12
13	Michigan State		12-6-2	419	14
14	Mass.-Lowell		10-6-1	418	9
15	Massachusetts		10-5-0	365	15
16	New Hampshire		8-6-3	209	19
17	Alaska		9-5-4	183	16
18	Union		8-3-5	164	20
19	St. Cloud State		8-7-3	120	17
20	Notre Dame		8-8-4	71	18
Others Receiving Votes: Maine 42, Vermont 32, Michigan 23, Minnesota State 11, Colgate 7, Lake Superior 6, RIT 4, Minnesota 3, Nebraska-Omaha 1

AP Women's Basketball Rankings: MSU at #16.

1.	Connecticut (40)	8-0	1000
2.	Stanford	7-0	957
3.	Tennessee	8-0	901
4.	Notre Dame	9-0	900
5.	LSU	7-0	795
6.	Baylor	8-1	762
7.	Duke	7-1	752
8.	Ohio State	10-1	698
9.	North Carolina	8-1	663
10.	Florida State	8-0	641
11.	Georgia	9-0	624
12.	Xavier	7-1	575
13.	Texas A&M	7-1	509
14.	Arizona State	7-1	486
15.	Oklahoma	8-2	395
16.	Michigan State	7-3	293
17.	Texas	5-3	282
18.	Vanderbilt	9-1	270
19.	Virginia	7-2	267
20.	Nebraska	10-0	262
21.	Pittsburgh	8-1	247
22.	Kansas	7-2	152
23.	Wisconsin-Green Bay	9-0	94
24.	James Madison	7-0	92
25.	Georgia Tech	6-2	81
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES Dayton 56, Syracuse 28, Oklahoma State 26, West Virginia 22, Temple 21, St. John's 18, California 16, DePaul 16, Maryland 16, TCU 13, Hartford 12, Oregon 9, Gonzaga 8, St. Bonaventure 7, Texas Tech 7, Mississippi State 6, Iowa State 5, Northwestern 5, Miami (FL) 4, Georgetown 2, Kentucky 2, Wyoming 2, Penn State 1,

ES ranks the Big Ten in Week 6

ES ranks each of the Big Ten teams through the first five games, and gives you a Buy/Hold/Sell prognostication.

1. Ohio State. 4-1/2-0. #8 Sagarin. Lone loss was to SoCal; outscored opponents 101-14 last three games, including Illinois & Indiana. Buy.
2. Iowa. 5-0/1-0. #9 Sagarin. Seems to be playing to its level of competition, with a squeaker over Arkansas State. But, they are 5-0 with a butt-kicking at JoePa. Buy.
3. Joe Pa. 4-1/1-1. #18 Sagarin. Joe Pa fell to #3 after it was pounded at home by a gritty Iowa team, but rebounded nicely with its thumping of woeful Illini. Hold.
4. Wisky. 5-0/2-0. #23 Sagarin. The Big Ten's other undefeated, with a pounding of the Big Green, but a nice win at Minny. Now comes the litmus test: at Ohio State. Buy.
5. Michigan State. 2-3/1-1. #47 Sagarin. Is Michigan State back from the brink? The defense woke up after a four game funk by limiting scUM to 82 total yards and -27 yards rushing mid-way through the fourth quarter. The Big Green left many points on the field, and bent late but didn't break. Best 2-3 team in the nation (we Spartans have heard that before). Buy.
6. Minnesota. 3-2/1-1. #51 Sagarin. Minny's squeaker wins over Syracuse, Air Force, and its butt kicking at the hands of a then-overrated Cal team may diminish their stock, but its late pull-away over Northwestern and competitiveness vs Wisky give the Gophers my "Bi-polar" award. Hold.
7. scUM. 4-1/1-1. #42 Sagarin. What, a ranked, undefeated Michigan team was an underdog to a 1-3 Spartan team, the first time that's ever happened? The pundits are enlightened as Sparty reveals scUM as overrated. scUM can prove otherwise, but won't, at Iowa this week. Sell.
8. Indiana. 3-2/0-2. #72 Sagarin. No shame for Indy losing to Ohio State and scUM - that's par for the course for a program that is about 2-100 against those teams the past 50 years. Now at... Virginia? A win would help the Hoosiers sweep their non-conference slate. Hold.
9. Northwestern. 3-2/1-1. #85 Sagarin. A loss to Syracuse and struggles against Eastern reveals the Cats belong among the cellar dwellars; a squeaker over Purdue just demonstrates Purdue belongs there, too.... Sell.
10. Purdon't. 1-4/0-2. #82 Sagarin. See NW above, but at least the Boilers are competitive, losing their last four by a combined 18 points, something you can't say about... Sell.
11. The Uncompetitive Zooks. #91 Sagarin. 1-3/0-2. Illini are falling fast - and so is Ron Zook's job. This team resembles more of the team MSU thumped by a 69-21 score under John L Smith than it does a team moving up the leaderboard. Against BCS teams, the Illini are 0-3 and outscored 126-22. Sell fast.