MSU deals with Temple; now faces Pitt

After avoiding being goon-ed at the hands of Temple, the Michigan State Spartans will face the Pittsburgh Panters (H excluded purposely) today.

Spartini will probably have trouble with Pitt, however. ESPN analyst/chair thrower Bobby Knight has predicted that Pitt will win the entire tournament.

Pitt has won 5 straight games coming into their matchup with the 300, winning the Big East tournament after defeating Georgetown.

Should be a pretty interesting game. Pitt has a great front lie of forwards, and Michigan State's strength lies in their guard play. If Michigan State can contain freshman DeJuan Blair inside, then they might have a chance, but otherwise it will take a huge game from both Neitzel and Morgan to win one for the Izzo.

Who would have seen this coming?

Purdue and Wisconsin battle for Big Ten supremacy

vs.

At the beginning of the Big Ten basketball season, everyone had the belief that Indiana and Michigan State would be the teams to beat. However, two unlikely teams have emerged to lead the Big Ten.

The Boilermakers of Purdue will travel to Madison tonight ( 9 PM EST, Big Ten Network) to battle the 8th ranked Wisconsin Badgers. The winner of tonight's contest will be the uncontested leader of the Big Ten.

The Badgers are a very uniquely balanced team. They don't really rely on one player night-in, night-out. They have over 9 players that average atleast 7.5 minutes a game. In fact, they had a stretch of games this year where a different player scored 15 or more points in five consecutive
games.

The Boilermakers are an even more surprising team. Led by coach Matt Painter (left), the young Boilermakers have worked their way atop the Big Ten. What makes their season even more impressive is the youth of the team. The top four scorers on the team are underclassman, three of who are freshman.

The next few games for the young Boilermakers are tough. After tonight's contest at Wisconsin, the team returns home to battle top 15 in conference opponent Michigan State, and then go on the road to play Northwestern.

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Random Thoughts 2/8/08

• The Tigers got a huge bargain when they resigned Curtis Granderson earlier this week. Granderson's deal will keep him a Tiger into 2012, and possibly '13 if the Tigers pick up his option. If he waited until next season, Granderson could have been a $10 million dollar a year player now.

• {Insert Me saying that I don't hate MSU} If I am a Sparty, I am very disappointed at the offseason that MSU coach Mark Dantonio has engineered. The combination of new coach smell and the Michigan coaching search debacle should have lead Michigan State to starting a new breed of domination in intra-Michigan recruiting. However, Dantonio finished with a measly 7th in the Big Ten in recruiting.

• Michigan head basketball coach John Belien may have the ugliest style of basketball I've ever seen. His idea of lack of rebounding and defense alongside low percentage shots make for some moments of deep, deep depression.