Michigan State: Rude Awakening Coming If December Losses "Don't Matter"

You hear it every year with this team. It's starting again after last night's Sparty letdown in the Lone Star state. Michigan columnists are writing off last night's 79-68 loss to Texas as a game that was only about "style points."

"Style points" is a common belief in December that losses to tough, ranked teams don't matter as long as a team isn't accused of loading up on patsies. In other words, it doesn't matter if a team loses tough games in December; it only matters if they win.

The truth is, those losses mean just as much.

A few losses in December never stop talk radio hosts and fans from drinking the green Kool-Aid, believing State will take care of business in the Big 10, and easily get back to the Final Four.

Without taking anything away from Tom Izzo and the Spartans, who always are ready to play when it counts, these losses are a good measure of where they stack up when that time comes.

Don't take this the wrong way; MSU can come away encouraged that they were competitive against the No. 2 team, despite having a poor shooting game. They can get better over the course of the season and keep it closer the next time around. They were able to hang close with an oversized Texas team and a raucous crowd on the road.

A lot can change between the Texas-Michigan State game last night and a potential rematch in three months. One team could get physically and emotionally drained from simply playing tough conference games. There's also the injury factor.

Different players can step up and be more consistent (I'm looking at you, Raymar Morgan).

However, this is for those who need the history lesson of why these "style points" do count and do matter in March.

You can look no further than last year's National Championship game. It was a rematch of a game in December where MSU was overwhelmed by UNC. Not a whole lot changed from the first time to the second time. Not even the venue.  

On the flip side, Sparty beat a Kansas team pretty soundly in the regular season. It was a lot closer in the tournament, but they were able to handle them again.

In 2006, a No. 1 ranked Florida team played a No. 3 Ohio State team before Christmas. As you remember, the same matchup from the National Championship game. Both games were carbon copies, with commanding wins by Florida.

The 2000 MSU team that won the National Championship took care of No. 2 North Carolina and No. 3 Kansas in December matchups. Did those wins prove to be meaningless?

Ask a betting man, albeit an overly anxious one, and he'll tell you that UNC or Texas will beat MSU in March.

Chances are, he'll be more accurate than the man who bets based on conference play.