Iowa-Michigan State Preview: Big Ten Games Always Matter

With a slim 1.5-game lead in the Big Ten, it's time for the Michigan State Spartans to get serious if they intend to claim another conference crown.

The Spartans recently took care of Illinois, a team that was believed to be a formidable adversary for them, 73-63 last Saturday at the Breslin Center—extending their winning streak to six games.

A wrist injury has sidelined star Wisconsin Badger center Jon Leuer indefinitely, and Purdue has dropped like a lead balloon in the last 10 days or so.

So what now?

It would be easy to sit back, relax, and just let a conference title fall in their laps, right?

In the words of Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friend." 

Every team in the Big Ten, no matter its record, is capable of beating anyone in the country. Ask UConn. The Huskies handed over a victory to the Michigan Wolverines on a silver platter, one of the dark horse but still dangerous teams in the league. Jim Calhoun is now ill, and understandably so; losing to a team that he severely underestimated would make anyone sick to their stomach.

This can happen to Michigan State within a blink of an eye.

Just because Iowa is currently nesting near the bottom doesn't mean they're not to be taken seriously. No one knows that better than Tom Izzo.

Iowa is a smaller, guard-heavy team that likes to run, yet can be physical. Sound familiar?

Iowa is a lot like the Spartans in certain aspects.

With 6'5" sophomore Matt Gatens and 6'4" Anthony Tucker in the backcourt, watch out. Gatens loves the three-ball, and he's stroking them at right around 35 percent—averaging just under 13 points per game (12.8).

The Hawkeyes (1-4, 7-11) would love nothing more than to spoil Izzo's plans of cruising through his conference schedule. State went 15-3 last year, and by the looks of things, it's on pace to finish just as good, if not better than it did in 2008-09.

Iowa is by no means an upper echelon team, but it doesn't have to be in order to throw MSU a curveball. A loss to Todd Lickliter's crew could open the floodgates for teams like Illinois (1.5 GB) and Wisconsin (1.5 GB) to get right back in the thick of things, and Izzo doesn't want that.

Ohio State (two GB), Michigan (two GB), and Purdue (2.5 GB) would all love to see the Spartans take one to the chin right about now.

Wisconsin will face Michigan, Penn State, and Purdue within the next week and has a chance (with a Spartan loss) to gain some ground in the Big Ten race. It is possible that the Badgers could win all three of their upcoming games—and then what?

If Sparty drops its game to Iowa and splits its games with Minnesota (3-3) and Michigan (3-3), it's a whole new ball game, folks.

During the January thaw is when most teams are starting to pick up the pace, gearing up for the stretch, and thinking of how they'll fare out in March.

Looking ahead isn't a bad thing, but don't look too far, Spartans. There's a hungry Hawkeye team lurking at your doorstep, just waiting to knock you down a notch.