Michigan State Basketball's Hell Week: Feb. 2-9, 2010

Tom Izzo's Spartans are 6-0 (16-3), have a one-and-a-half game lead over Wisconsin in the Big Ten, and have the whole conference gunning for them.

That comes to no suprise when they're the only undefeated team in the league and clear-favorite to garnish the conference championship.

With a handful of teams separating themselves from the pack, the week of Feb. 2-9 poses a real threat to the Spartans if they want to win their sixth league title under Izzo.

Feb. 2 @ Wisconsin (15-4, 5-2, 1.5 GB)

Michigan State will travel to Madison to tangle with the Leuer-less Badgers just over a week from now. Wisconsin is fresh off a gritty 54-48 win over the Michigan Wolverines, a game which John Beilein's bunch fizzled out in the final minutes to hand the Badgers the win.

Jon Leuer is the key to the Badger offense and coach Bo Ryan knows that. 

The 6'10", 225 pound center is out indefinitely with a wrist injury—his 15.4 points and 6.2 boards per game are sorely missed.

The Badgers were abused down-low by the Wolverines' Deshawn Sims Wednesday night—something that may have not occured had Leuer been in the lineup.

Pending a return of its big-man, Trevon Hughes (16.1 ppg) and Jason Bohannon (10.6 ppg) will have to put the team on their backs.

Wisconsin lost its last match with Sparty, 54-47 in East Lansing.

Feb. 6 @ Illinois (12-7, 4-2, 2 GB)

The Illini are one-of-four possible suitors to take home a league title.

Big-man Mike Tisdale (11.8 ppg, 6 rpg) was shut down in East Lansing and he'll need to become a factor if he wants to lead his team to victory over the seventh-ranked Spartans.

Down big early in the second half, Illinois was able to pull itself up by its boot-straps and make a late run against Izzo's clan, but fell short, 73-63.

Mike Davis, D.J. Richardson, and Demetri McCamey are all dangerous, talented athletes, so don't count the Illini out just yet—just one more reason why the Spartans will need to cross their T's and dot their I's.

Iowa let the Spartans know that they're nowhere near their desired "tournament form" Wednesday night—a sloppy win that served as a wake-up call for Kalin Lucas and friends. 

Feb. 9 vs. Purdue (15-3, 3-3, 3 GB)

Perhaps the Big Ten's game of the year, both Boiler and Spartan fans have been waiting all year for this one.

Boiler star JaJuan Johnson has been nowhere to be found in the last four games and his disappearing act has caused Purdue to hit the skids.

The Boilers have dropped three of their last four, but rebounded with a big win over Illinois Tuesday, 84-78.

Tom Izzo has had this game circled on his calendar since the beginning of the season (maybe earlier) and this is Sparty's chance to really show the rest of the Big Ten who's in the driver's seat.

Purdue is a dangerous squad, and its drop reminiscent of a lead-balloon could have just been an anomaly.

The Spartans will face in-state-rival Michigan and the always upset-minded, underachieving Northwestern Wildcats prior to their upcoming "Hell Week."

With four-of-five upcoming games against conference contenders, the time to weather the approaching storm and show resolve is near for Izzo and company.