These are strange, but good, times for the Michigan State’s basketball team.
At No. 6, the Spartans are the Big Ten’s highest-ranked team even though they are an extreme long shot to win the regular season championship. Coach Tom Izzo finds it odd that he isn’t able to dangle the opportunity to hang another conference banner as a motivational carrot in front of his players’ noses heading into the final two games.
Basketball analysts are projecting MSU as a possible No. 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but it realistically could be a fourth-seed in next week’s league tourney in Indianapolis.