The Final Four Is Not On The Schedule - A Podcast Discussing Michigan State Basketball.

March 18, 2024: Michigan State returns to the NCAA Tournament for the 26th consecutive year and as a 9 seed will face 8th seeded Mississippi State from the SEC. Both teams come in with less than spectacular records but are teams who could be dangerous.  Both MSU's arrive with similar offensive and defensive ratings although they get there different ways. Michigan State doesn't turn the ball over a...

March 17, 2024: Well, Michigan State once again is dancing in March for their 26th consecutive appearance as the 9 seed in the West against Mississippi State out of the SEC. Their second round opponent would likely be North Carolina if they advance in the games in Charlotte, NC. It was a topsy turvy couple days as just about every potential bid thief ended up winning their conference tournaments l...

March 16, 2024: Michigan State lost in a quarterfinal matchup with Purdue 67-62 thanks to some poor shooting and even poorer officiating. We don’t often attribute losses to officials - and even this one we will place more of the blame on the team than the officiating - but it is hard to not see the calls in this game as contributing in a significant way. Unlike the game in West Lafayette a few wee...

March 14, 2024: Michigan State defeated Minnesota in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis 77-67 to all but lock up Tom Izzy’s 26th straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Despite trailing by 2 at halftime, MSU’s guards went to work and dominated the second half scoring over 30 points in the paint and pulling away from the Gophers to win by ten. That puts the Spartans squarely in...

March 13, 2024: Bracket Dom, America’s number one bracketologist according to Bracket Matrix, joins us again to go over all the NCAA tournament seeding scenarios for MSU and the rest of the Big Ten. For Spartan fans worried about MSU’s tournament streak….well, let’s just say a win over Minnesota in the first round would help. As for the rest of the Big Ten, there’s not a whole lot of movement outs...

March 12, 2024: Michigan State begins its postseason Thursday at noon (11 CT) in Minneapolis as the 8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. MSU doesn't usually play on Thursday but we all know how this year unfolded and they find themselves probably not with a do or die game against the Gophers. However, to avoid working up a sweat Sunday during the selection show it sure would be nice to not worry abou...

March 11, 2024: Get ready for the 2024 Big Ten Tournament  hosted in Minneapolis for the first time ever. First place Purdue looks to repeat as tournament champ and continue its dominance of the league this year. As for the rest of the Big Ten, who knows how it will proceed? We handicap the games and feel that there is often not a whole lot of difference from 3-11 in the seeding. It's truly anyone...

March 10, 2024: Once again, Michigan State showed its inconsistency in closing the regular season at Bloomington with a loss 65-64. The start to the game was terrible, the middle of the game was one in which the Spartans were humming at both ends allowing a 17 point deficit to become a 7 point lead midway through the second half only to be squandered away at the end. Tyson Walker led MSU with 30 p...

March 8, 2024: Michigan State looks to close out the regular season Sunday in Bloomington against Indiana for the teams’ only matchup of the year. Indiana is riding a 3 game winning streak and MSU has only won one of their last four. Like most of the Spartans’ season, it is anyone’s guess which MSU team shows up. Hopefully the Spartans will bring their jump shots to this game since they shot a dre...

March 6, 2024: Despite 2-17 shooting behind the arc, Michigan State managed to pull off a win over Northwestern on Senior night in East Lansing, 53-49. The Spartans made up for their dreadful shooting with sound defense and dominating the ‘Cats on the boards with 19 offensive rebounds and an overall rebounding edge of 12. Malik Hall chipped in 15 points and an impressive 17 rebounds (7 offensive)...

March 4, 2024: Michigan State will host its final home game of the year as it welcomes a depleted Northwestern team on senior night. The Wildcats will be without guard Ty Berry lost for the season with a torn knee meniscus and starting center Matthew Nicholson with a broken foot he sustained in their last game against the Hawkeyes. Questionable but expected to play is transfer guard Ryan Langborg...

March 3, 2024: Michigan State once again headed to Mackey arena and once again unable to finish the job. Despite shooting over 40%, not turning over the ball, and keeping pace on the boards, the Spartans were just not able to keep pace offensively with Purdue. MSU will now return home for Senior night against Northwestern before finishing the season at Indiana. They probably need to get two more w...

February 29, 2024: Well, the game that's been circled on the calendar since the schedule came out in the Fall is finally here - the trip to Mackey Arena against the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue is easily a one seed going into the NCAA tournament and should win the Big Ten barring a late season collapse. The chances of Michigan State pulling off this win in their usual house of horrors is certainly...

February 27, 2024: We are once again joined by famed bracketologist, Dom Lese, who is now America's number one bracketologist ranked by Bracket Matrix. Dom gave us the lowdown on the field of 68 including in depth dives into Michigan State, the Big Ten, the conference spread and mid majors. Surprisingly, he laid out his case for why he predicts the Mountain West will field as many teams as the Big...

February 25, 2024: Michigan State’s struggles continued as they lost on a last second three by Ohio State at home, 60-57. It was a game in which the Buckeyes never led until time expired and they had to complete a 22-7 run over the last 11 minutes of the second half to defeat the Spartans. Michigan State led most of the game comfortably but were never quite able to put the Buckeyes away. Xavier Bo...

February 23, 2024: Michigan State is wrapping up the regular season soon and will have its next to last home game this Sunday against struggling Ohio State. Despite getting an improbable upset over visiting Purdue, the Buckeyes have had a very disappointing season. So bad, in fact, that head coach Chris Holman was let go a week ago leaving the team under assistant coach Jake Diebler’s care for the...

February 20, 2024: Michigan State inexplicably drops a home game to the Iowa Hawkeyes which ends the win streak at 3. Despite shooting 50% behind the arc, the Spartans were unable to guard anyone in a phone booth and Iowa was able to get just about anything they wanted in the first half. Now the Spartans will have to regroup and find a way to win a few more games to secure an NCAA tournament bid....

February 19, 2024: Michigan State is now carrying a three game win streak and hope to extend that with back to back home games against Iowa and Ohio State. It will be the only matchup against both teams and first up is the Hawkeyes who are struggling to emerge from the middle of the pack of the Big Ten. Characteristically, this is another bad defensive team for Fran McCaffrey and a pretty good off...

February 17, 2024: Michigan State completed the season sweep of the hapless Wolverines by winning at Crisler arena 73-63 in a late night Saturday matchup. It was a game where MSU did not play particularly well yet cruised in with a 10 point win on the backs of its defense holding Michigan scoreless over the final 7 minutes of play. The Spartans recorded 15 steals against UM and converted those (an...

February 16, 2024: Michigan State will try and keep to its winning ways on the road as it heads to Ann Arbor for a possible sweep of the Wolverines. Michigan’s season is probably best described as tumultuous. Juwan Howard started the season out after heart surgery then became the assistant coach (but still got tossed from a game). And then the suspension to point guard Dug McDaniel (but just 6 awa...

February 14, 2024: Michigan State headed to Happy Valley on Valentines day in hopes of getting its second road win and didn't disappoint Spartan fans. Career high scoring from Malik Hall with 29 points and then 10 rebounds led the way for the visitors and 16 first half points from Jaden Akins put the Nittany Lions on their heels. Perhaps just as importantly, MSU minimized their turnovers and domin...

February 12, 2024: Michigan State heads back onto the road where they have struggled this season to face Penn State. MSU handled the Nittany Lions easily in their first matchup in East Lansing where the Spartans cruised in with a 31 point win. However, Penn State is playing better and has won 3 of its last 5 and has been dangerous at home. MSU and AJ Hoggard will have to take the momentum and effo...

February 10, 2024: Michigan State found a way to win at home by beating a very talented and athletic Illinois team that should help the Spartans in their seeding for the NCAA tournament. The likely quad 1 win should safely put MSU in the field and gives them some important momentum heading into a 2 game road stretch against Penn State and Michigan. The Spartans finished the game on a 24-8 run with...

February 8, 2024: The regular season of the Big Ten is a long slog and Michigan State is feeling that this year. Road games have been challenging for the green and white but they have played very well at home. They will look to continue that home cooking this Saturday as the Spartans look for a big win over top ranked Illinois. The last time the teams met in Champaign, Illinois played without star...

February 6, 2024: Once again, MSU failed to get the job done on the road dropping a close fought game to the Golden Gophers, 59-56. It has been a nightmare winning games on the road for just about every Big Ten team although both Rutgers and Indiana managed to get the job done tonight off their home floors. The loss could almost entirely be attributed to the free throw line where Michigan State wa...