The reaction around Michigan State basketball has been loud after back-to-back exhibition losses to UConn and Marquette, but the national view has stayed a lot steadier than the mood inside the fan base.
That’s because the people filling out brackets and making early postseason picks still see plenty to like in Tom Izzo’s team. The two losses looked rough in the moment, and Michigan State did not play well, but neither opponent figures to be an easy out this season. Marquette is expected to be much better than it was a year ago, and UConn is still UConn as long as Dan Hurley is there.
So while nobody is celebrating two losses, the national media hasn’t exactly buried the Spartans. The Athletic’s college basketball writers, when asked to choose their Final Four teams and national champion, made Michigan State the most popular pick to reach the national semifinal, collecting eight votes and tying UConn.
Two of those writers even picked the Spartans to win it all. That kind of confidence says plenty about how the broader basketball world views Izzo’s group: flawed right now, but absolutely capable of growing into something bigger.
The sense from those national voices is that Izzo will take what happened and turn it into a teaching moment. Michigan State spent those two games without leading for more than a couple of minutes, but the expectation is that the staff will use the film and the pain of those losses to clean things up.
That matters because the Spartans have too much talent to keep playing that way. The encouraging part, if there is one, is that the rough edges showed up before the season officially gets going.
Izzo’s own comments pointed in that direction, too, with some players not living up to their potential early and communication needing work. That fits the usual Michigan State pattern: not polished in October, but steadily shaped over the course of the season. Izzo has built a reputation on squeezing the most out of his teams, and this group figures to be no different.
The early sloppiness and lack of cohesion are real, but so is the value of testing themselves against quality opponents. Michigan State got exposed by two tournament teams and another program expected to contend for a title, and now it has a clearer picture of what needs fixing.
That film should matter later in the year, but it should help right away too. The Spartans will get another chance to show growth against Duke, Arkansas, Gonzaga, and Tennessee.
If this is the worst version of Michigan State all season, then the Spartans should be in pretty good shape.
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Tom Izzo Sees One Early Michigan State Problem That Could Snowball
Michigan States two exhibition losses to UConn and Marquette did more than add a pair of preseason blemishes. They exposed something Tom Izzo clearly wants corrected before the games start counting: a communication issue that has left too many Spartans unusually quiet on the floor. Izzo pointed to Kaleb Glenn as one example, but the broader concern is less about any one player and more about a group still searching for a louder, cleaner on-court identity.
For Izzo, the fix has to come from within the roster, with players such as Jeremy Fears Jr. and Coen Carr expected to provide more vocal leadership as the Spartans move toward their next games. Early-season issues can be brushed aside if a team is talking, directing and covering for one another, but silence tends to snowball when pressure rises. Michigan State has time to tighten that up, though the exhibitions made it clear the Spartans cannot afford to let the problem linger. [Read more 🡒]
UCLAs Future QB Situation Could Matter More To Michigan State
Nico Iamaleavas season-ending ACL injury has already altered UCLAs quarterback picture, and it could end up shaping the market a lot further down the line than this fall. The Bruins now have Cal Poly transfer Ty Dieffenbach running the offense in Iamaleavas absence, and he has handled the job well enough to make this more than a temporary fill-in story.
For Michigan State, the reason to keep an eye on it is the ripple effect into 2027, when the quarterback competition could get interesting if Iamaleava is back in the mix and still working his way through recovery and draft questions. His injury adds another layer to a situation that already had some uncertainty, and the way UCLA sorts out its future at the position could matter well beyond its own roster. [Read more 🡒]
Tom Izzo Sees An Early Michigan State Problem That Could Matter Fast
Tom Izzo didnt need much time this preseason to spot what could become Michigan States first real issue. As the Spartans prepared for their season opener, the veteran coach kept circling back to the same pillars he wants in place right away: communication, defense, rebounding and running. The exhibitions offered enough tape to make the concern feel real, especially with the teams talk and defensive execution lagging in stretches.
Izzos focus now is on tightening the details that usually define his teams early, from how Michigan State handles pick-and-roll coverage to how it pushes the ball in transition. Jeremy Fears Jr. and the frontcourt are both central to that fix, and the urgency is clear because these are the kinds of habits that can show up fast once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]