The only guarantees in life are death, taxes, and Michigan State making March Madness… at least it’s been that way for the last 22 years. Fifth year senior Joshua Langford is the only active player on MSU to be alive when MSU missed the tournament in 1997. However, that streak is at risk of being snapped. The Spartans are currently After starting the year 6-0 in non-conference play, they have stumbled in the beginning of Big Ten play currently with a conference record of 4-7. Currently, Joe Lunardi, ESPN’s bracketologist currently has the Spartans out of the tournament and there are multiple bubble teams ahead of them. The advanced statistics used for filling out the field like NET and RPI are not in favor of MSU. There NET rating is currently 83rd  which is an improvement, but still too weak, and their RPI is a horrid 126.

While their chances are bleak, they still have a chance. The Spartans have seven games remaining, five are against top-25 teams, including three top-10 teams. Along with their remaining schedule, the Spartans could go on a run in the conference tournament and get an automatic bid. Many are skeptical that MSU can put it together, but the Spartans haven’t played their best basketball to this point. There have been glimpses of greatness like in the Iowa game last week.

The bottom line is that currently Michigan State is on the outside looking in, but there are plenty of opportunities change that. Luckily this is the time of year, where head coach Tom Izzo has made his career, and we’ll see if he cans spark some magic once again.