<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">They were essentially left for dead, the victims of an overly ambitious schedule. That's where the Michigan State Spartans were little more than a month ago. And for good reason. A program that reached three consecutive Final Fours from 1999-2001 and won the 2000 title suddenly had a 5-7 record after a loss to Wisconsin in its Big Ten opener on Jan. 10. Sure the non-conference losses came against some of the top programs in the country -- Kansas, Duke, Oklahoma, Kentucky, UCLA and Syracuse. But 5-7? While Tom Izzo's teams always play hard and always get better, it was hard to believe that the Michigan State coach hadn't bitten off a little bit more than his team could handle. But even though Izzo remains critical of his team's defense and fans that have been quite spoiled grumble that this Michigan State team isn't any good, the Spartans are suddenly back in the middle of everything. Entering Tuesday night's game against Purdue, Michigan State is in position to not only return to the NCAA Tournament, but also to win at least a share of the Big Ten title. Say what? Yep, since the loss to the Badgers, Michigan State has won eight of 10 games. The Spartans (13-9, 8-3 Big Ten) returned to ESPN.com's weekly NCAA Tournament projections on Feb. 2 and haven't left since. They trail Wisconsin by only one-half game in the Big Ten standings. And, while it hasn't been as easy as things have been in recent years (Michigan State needed a 23-point comeback to win at last-place Minnesota), and there was an ugly 24-point loss at Illinois, the Spartans are in a very familiar spot.</div> Link We're baaack! We're also up by five at the half vs. Purdue.
They should be there. They have more talent than any other team in the Big 10, and with a regular schedule would probably be a top 15 team right now.
they have rebounded big time from the start of the season but i agree with u if they would have a regular schedule they would be high in the rankings
