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

December 16, 2023: Michigan State flipped the script against the Baylor Bears jumping out to a gigantic lead in the first half and carrying it into half time up 45-17. In fact, even Tyson Walker outscored the entire Baylor team in the first half 18-17. Despite Baylor making an early push, MSU responded after the lead getting cut to 20 but pushing it back up to nearly 30 points. The Spartans never...

December 14, 2023: MSU continues its usual gauntlet of non-conference matchups as it faces #7 Baylor in Detroit on Saturday. The Bears are undefeated and boast the #2 offense in the country. Defensively they’re not bad either clocking in at #62. In contrast, Michigan State is still reeling from an 0-2 Big Ten start and multiple problems in their lineup. From poor shooting to inconsistent reboundin...

December 10, 2023: Michigan State once again has trouble getting the offense going when it counts and falls to Nebraska 77-70 in Lincoln. Despite leading by 3 with the ball and under 5 to play, MSU went 1 for its last 8 shots down the stretch and fell to 0-2 in the Big Ten to start the season. Malik Hall played well with 22 points and 7 rebounds but didn’t have enough help. Nebraska shot 50% from...

December 8, 2023: It's no secret that Michigan State's basketball team is reeling. After a summer of high expectations, the team has been largely disappointing in not developing into the title contender most had expected. Although the team has shown a lot of times of promise, those times are often sandwiched between unimpressive offensive performances. The offense looks stagnant most games which i...

December 5, 2023: Michigan State drops its opener to the Wisconsin Badgers at home, 70-57. The game was disappointing on so many levels. The Spartans were out rebounded, out shot, and generally out hustled all over the floor. It was a surprisingly uninspiring effort from a team of veterans who looked not the least bit prepared after a six day rest.   Once again, MSU had a bad open to the game requ...

December 4, 2023: The early abbreviated Big Ten play has begun and has already had some interesting developments. Purdue lost its opener in Evanston to Northwestern which is exactly what happened to the Spartans last year (although it was at home). This year, the Badgers come to visit and they're coming off a big victory over #3 Marquette at home. The game will be a challenge and if Michigan State...

November 30, 2023: On Tuesday evening, Michigan State played the Georgia Southern Eagles from the Sun Belt Conference and did exactly what we hoped they would do - win easily. This game was really never in doubt but there were definitely some very interesting story lines that came from the game. The top story was that AJ Hoggard was replaced in the starting lineup with Tre Holloman. And Tre respon...

November 26, 2023: We are fast approaching the annual interruption of the nonconference schedule with a home and away Big Ten game. On December 5, MSU begins its march to a Big Ten title against Wisconsin, but first, it must face the Georgia Southern Eagles from the Sun Belt Conference. It's the second team from the Sun Belt that the Spartans will have faced but this team is no where near the leve...

November 24, 2023: Michigan State got to play a premium game on Thanksgiving Day after the Lions game against the Arizona Wildcats in Palm Springs, CA. Although the game was entertaining and the Spartans fought all the way back to take a late lead on the 'Cats, they ended up falling 72-66  with a 9-0 Arizona run.  Things looked bleak in the first half with MSU going down by as many as 15 points. F...

November 21, 2023: Thanksgiving is a day for turkey, stuffing, napping, football, and this year - MSU basketball. In a premiere matchup against a top rated Arizona Wildcats team, the Spartans might be facing their most difficult test of the year. Arizona comes into the game at 5-0 with a signature win on the road at Cameron Indoor Arena against the Duke Blue Devils. Featuring a sensational sophomo...

November 19, 2023: Capping what was a very good weekend for MSU sports fans with a basketball victory over Butler Friday night, the football team winning a road game, the MSU hockey team sweeping #1 Wisconsin, and the Lions coming from behind to climb to 8-2 on the season, the win over Alcorn State was icing on the cake. The Spartans were without leading scorer Tyson Walker but didn't need him as...

November 18, 2023: Alcorn State comes to visit the Breslin Sunday night in a tune up for MSU's premiere game against Arizona on Thanksgiving Day. The Braves are from the SWAC which is a traditional 16 seed in the NCAA tournament. In short, this shouldn't be a game that stresses Michigan State fans too much. Alcorn State is a team this year that struggles on both ends of the court. Their profile is...

November 17, 2023: The Spartans badly needed a game where they could build upon the positives in the Duke loss and Butler had the unfortunate luck to be the victim of MSU's growth. In a game that Michigan State started out good offensively, Butler was never really in the game after about the 10 minute mark in the first half. MSU pulled away to lead by 12 into the break and never really looked back...

November 15, 2023: After dropping a game to Duke in the Champions Classic, Michigan State heads back to the Breslin Center to play the Butler Bulldogs. The game is the last one of the series known as the Gavitt Games which matched Big Ten and Big East programs throughout the years.  Butler comes in coached by a guy very familiar to MSU fans - Thad Matta. Matta is in his second season and has his t...

November 14, 2023: Michigan State faced off against the Duke Blue Devils in the Champions Classic tonight and lost 74-65. Neither team looked like it was playing crisply and struggled in the first ten minutes of the game to score. Duke largely couldn't get a shot up because of turnovers caused by MSU and Michigan State couldn't make open jumpers. By the end of the first half, Duke started to pull...

November 11, 2023: Michigan State has competed in the early season Champions Classic with Kansas, Kentucky, and Duke for so long it almost feels as if it has been going forever. The round robin matchup has been around since 2011 and will once again be a great measuring stick for these Spartans.  This year, MSU gets a talented Duke team who is coming off a 5 point loss to Arizona at home. Similar t...

November 9, 2023: Michigan State exorcised a few demons Thursday night by beating Southern Indiana 74-51. The Spartans outscored the Screaming Eagles 37-14 in the first half with some suffocating defense. Unfortunately, the defense largely disappeared in the second half. MSU continues to get very spotty performance from its senior point guard, AJ Hoggard, which has led to erratic play and a genera...

November 8, 2023: If there was ever a time to get back on the court and cleanse your mouth it's the Spartans. After an historically poor shooting performance in the home opener against James Madison, MSU looks to get back on track before the Champions Classic next week. Although the USI Screaming Eagles should be easier competition for the Spartans, this game could be a check for how the upperclas...

November 7, 2023: In what has to be one of the most inexplicable opening nights in MSU basketball history, #4 MSU lost 79-76 to James Madison. They did this behind 1-20 3 point shooting, 23-37 FT shooting, and getting outrebounded by a very talented mid major program. The game highlighted the Spartans' recent lack of focus and intensity at the starts of game. Their lackadaisical effort was on full...

November 3, 2023: A lot like Christmas morning, Monday is the official start to the college basketball season in what we hope will be a very special and fun year for MSU hoops. The Dukes from James Madison, however, won't be a pushover. They won their conference last year (but lost in the conference tourney) and are favored to again this year. JMU ranks in the top 150 on KenPom which puts them abo...

October 29, 2023: Well, if you attended the game or watched it on TV, you would be excused for not realizing that the 89-88 last second loss to Tennessee at the Breslin wasn't a regular season game. Aside from the first 6 minutes of the game where the Vols leapt out to a 17-1 lead, the game felt every bit like the even and hard nosed game we anticipated. Although, there was no disqualification fro...

October 27, 2023: Michigan State will host head coach Rick Barnes and top ten Tennessee in a final exhibition warmup to the Breslin Sunday afternoon. It was going to be a closed scrimmage like last year's in Knoxville, but the devastation that occurred in Maui moved both teams to open the game up as a fund raising opportunity. The game will be televised on BTN and we expect to see two teams with l...

October 25, 2023: Michigan State opened its season on a rainy night in East Lansing by hosting D2 Hillsdale in an exhibition matchup. The game went much as you'd hope for Spartan fans as MSU cruised to an easy win. Of note, the team looked a lot different in their style of play and the freshmen came in and looked further along than freshmen usually do at the beginning of the season. Although it is...

October 23, 2023: Michigan State has two warm-up games before its season opener in early November. The first of which is this Wednesday as they host the D2 Chargers from Hillsdale College. Although a small school, Hillsdale is an accomplished basketball program which has played in the D2 NCAA tournament 3 years in a row and the Elite 8 two years ago. Of interest to Spartan fans is not only how the...

October 19, 2023: Prior to last season, Michigan State had two straight disappointing years (by program standards) with teams that had early exits in the NCAA and not in contention for Big Ten titles. However, last year finished better with a Sweet Sixteen berth and almost an elite eight appearance. The season might have ended with a thrilling and heartbreaking OT loss to Kansas St. but it gave al...