Michigan State Basketball: Are the Spartans Poised to Make a Final Four Run?

Not many teams in the country can beat Duke and North Carolina.

Very few can even imagine playing them in back-to-back games.

But how many teams can suffer losses against them and then be resilient enough to win 12 games in a row?

Apparently, the Michigan State Spartans can.

After falling in two high profile games against top 5 opponents to begin the season, one on a Navy ship against the top-ranked team in the country in which the President was in attendance and another in Madison Square Garden where Coach Krzyzewski was trying to become the winningest coach in NCAA basketball history, the Spartans haven’t lost since.

Having ripped off 12 straight victories, most recently against an undefeated 12-0 Indiana squad that handed an undefeated, top-ranked Kentucky team its first loss earlier in the season, Tom Izzo has his Spartans playing some good basketball.

But is this team good enough to contend for a Big 10 championship or to make a Final Four run?

Michigan State doesn't have a Jared Sullinger.

Or a Harrison Barnes.

Or a Tyler Zeller.

The Spartans do, however, have a good core group of players that is coached by a future Hall of Famer who knows how to get his team to work together towards a common goal: winning basketball games.

If the past is any indicator, Izzo doesn't need a superstar to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament (case in point: 2008 and 2009 where the leading scorer on each of those teams was Kalin Lucas).

Last year, the Spartans started the season with a preseason No. 2 ranking and lots of potential, but finished the season poorly and barely even slipped into the tournament before losing to UCLA in the first round.

That team got away from the fundamentals of Izzo ball and couldn't play defense and rebound, a cornerstone of all of the successful Michigan State teams that came before them.

This year, though, that’s exactly what the Spartans seem to be doing well, ranking seventh in the nation in rebounding margin and 16th in field goal percentage defense.

The team has a lot of young and new faces, but still has the caliber of athletes and talent that it takes to be successful.

Led by senior Draymond Green, who is averaging almost a double-double a game with 15 points and 9.6 rebounds, the Spartans have the type of veteran leadership that it takes to lead a team deep into March and April.

Green was a part of the two Spartan teams that played in the Final Four in the 2008 and 2009 seasons, so he knows what it takes to lead a team to victory.

And he showed that in the game against Gonzaga, where his 34-point outburst almost single-handedly willed Michigan State to victory.

Green is also surrounded with plenty of talent on both the offensive and defensive end, with talented freshman forward Branden Dawson showing lots of potential, and Derrick Nix and Keith Appling providing lots of support as well.

Michigan State is a much improved, different team than it was at the beginning of the season when it lost to North Carolina and Duke.

If the Spartans were to play those teams now, would they win?

Would the games be more competitive?

These are questions that unfortunately can’t be answered unless the teams meet again in March.

One thing is for sure though: The Spartans need to continue to improve if they want to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. During their 12-game winning streak, they beat a solid top 25 Gonzaga team on the road in a very hostile environment and an Indiana team that came into East Lansing undefeated.

But they also struggled to beat a Lehigh team that was vastly overmatched, yet played them close for four quarters in East Lansing.  

With a slate of games coming up at Nebraska, Wisconsin and Michigan in the next few weeks, we will find out if the physical toughness, team chemistry and strong mentality of the Spartans will be enough for them to compete for a conference title and instill fear into teams heading into the NCAA tournament.

We've heard this a few times before in the last couple of seasons, but once again don’t be surprised if we find Izzo and the Spartans playing basketball games in late March and early April.