Michigan State in Class of Its Own

Posted Mar 8th 2009 2:30PM by MATT SNYDER

When it comes to the Big Ten, there are a few tiers of similar teams. Illinois and Purdue are similar. Iowa and Indiana are similarly bad. There's a big amoeba in the middle where every team is on the bubble. Then, you are left with Michigan State. They are in a class all by themselves.

Sunday we received another reminder, as they turned Purdue away despite a sub-par shooting performance.The pressure defense and the quick-paced offense were just too much for the Boilers.

Kalin Lucas -- who will be named Big Ten Player of the Year very soon -- paced the conference champs with 19 points. Goran Suton, on his senior day, recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 boards.

As for Purdue, they shot even worse than the Spartans. You can't expect to win in the Breslin Center when you shoot less than 30 percent from the floor. Robbie Hummel couldn't hit the broad-side of a barn, while Chris Kramer, Lewis Jackson and several others did their part in the mason's convention.

The main story of this game, though, is just how much better Michigan State is than everyone else in the conference. Their main competition in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament would likely be Illinois or Purdue -- both of whom enter the conference tourney on two-game losing streaks -- but Michigan State is just a much better basketball team than both of them.

Should the Spartans not win the conference tourney, it will have been a huge upset. They should be plenty motivated, as they still have an outside shot at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. I believe the Big Ten Tournament will be one of the most exciting conference tournaments in the nation, as long as you are only looking at the first two or three rounds. In the championship, I just can't see anyone hanging with the Spartans.