The Big Ten basketball season has played seven conference games. We are approaching the final week of January, so we have already covered an appreciable distance in the conference race. This is more than one week, more than a snapshot of the conference. Yet, in many ways, it seems that the conference race has not yet begun.
It is about to, though.
The Michigan State Spartans lead the Big Ten with a 6-1 mark through seven conference games, but as we told you a few weeks earlier, this is not an elite team. At the very least, the Spartans have to prove they are an alpha dog. It hasn’t happened yet… but now Tom Izzo’s team gets a chance to make its case.
The 6-1 record is solid, to be sure, but it isn’t outstanding… because it sits on a big, fat, cushy bed of home games. Michigan State has played five of its first seven Big Ten games at home, and one of its two road trips was to Northwestern. One can make the argument that Michigan State has lost the only especially challenging game on its Big Ten slate to this point, a road trip to Mackey Arena and West Lafayette to take on Purdue. MSU lost by 29 points, validating every inclination to think that the Spartans are much closer to a 5-seed-caliber NCAA Tournament team than a No. 2 seed.
What kind of team is Michigan State? We don’t know, if we’re being honest. Extended play on the road will reveal what the Spartans are made of… and here we go: Michigan State will play three of its next four games and five of its next seven on the road. The Spartans host Penn State and Northwestern in that span of seven games. None of their road trips go to Nebraska, so they are not facing any especially easy road opponents this time.
One of Michigan State’s five road trips in this upcoming seven-game stretch is in Madison on Saturday, Feb. 1. In a week and a half, we might have a better idea of where MSU stands in the larger workings of Big Ten basketball. If the answer isn’t good for the Spartans, that Feb. 1 game could be for a share of first place for the Badgers.
The Big Ten race has seven games under its belt, and yet, one could say we’re only now starting the true chase for a regular-season championship.