Michigan State Basketball comes in at No. 12 in preseason AP Poll
Michigan State basketball has come in at No. 12 in the preseason AP Poll, the third-best Big Ten team.
With football season winding down, thankfully, the Michigan State basketball season is about to begin. Many feel that the Spartans could put the dreadful 2016 football season out of their minds with a national title push of their own.
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Michigan State has opened the season No. 12 in the preseason AP Poll, behind the likes of Wisconsin and Indiana in the Big Ten. That’s somewhat surprising seeing as the Spartans are getting most of the hype in the conference.
Wisconsin does return Nigel Hayes as well as the Big Ten’s top freshman from last season. Indiana, on the other hand, is somewhat surprising as they return a couple of pieces, but lose Yogi Ferrell. They also have the No. 21 recruiting class in the country, though.
Tom Izzo put together his best recruiting class in 21 years for 2016 with guys like Miles Bridges, Josh Langford, Cassius Winston and Nick Ward. During the first preseason game, Bridges, Ward and Winston showed off — Langford was injured.
In fact, Winston showed off his elite passing ability, Ward was a force in the paint and Bridges got it done from everywhere on the court. The latter scored 33 points to lead Michigan State.
Outside of the freshmen, Tum Tum Nairn looks like he’s going to be a heck of a leader and Eron Harris might end up being the team’s top scorer. Matt McQuaid and Kenny Goins will also play big minutes and this team is deep.
The injuries to Gavin Schilling and Ben Carter may have caused the rankings to lower a bit in the AP voters’ eyes.
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