This year, the Spartans and head coach Tom Izzo are following a much different upward trend, and it’s changing the results we should expect from MSU for the rest of the season. After not surprisingly dropping the first two games of the season to then-No. 1 North Carolina and then-No. 6 Duke, MSU has won 14 straight, giving the Spartans their best start since the 1998-99 season. The Spartans currently find themselves at No. 10 and No. 11 in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, respectively.

About two weeks into conference play, MSU also sits atop the Big Ten standings. After beating a previously undefeated Indiana team, knocking off Nebraska and escaping Wisconsin’s Kohl Center with their first win in Madison since 2001, the Spartans are the lone undefeated in conference play.
Going from unranked and projected to finish outside of the top three in the Big Ten, MSU now is a top-10 team and a reasonable conference favorite.

Senior forward Draymond Green said the Spartans never had any doubts about what they could accomplish this season. Although MSU is in a much different position than before the season, Green said he and the Spartans aren’t looking at it any differently.

“One game at a time, that’s our focus,” Green said. “You can’t start looking ahead, especially with all the crazy things that have been going on at the beginning of this conference season.”

No. 5 Ohio State — the clear favorite to win the Big Ten pre-season — lost to No. 12 Indiana. Iowa beat No. 19 Wisconsin — which has dropped three straight games — Penn State beat Purdue and the Hoosiers beat No. 16 Michigan, making the early conference race a jumbled mess. Except for at the top where MSU sits alone.

Unlike last season, when the Spartans needed every win to make the NCAA Tournament, this year’s team can play without that added pressure. Having already locked up résumé wins on the road against then-No. 22 Gonzaga and at home against Indiana, Green said the conference leading Spartans only are concerned about what the team wants to accomplish in Big Ten play.

“When you get to conference, that’s for all the marbles,” Green said. “Everything you plan for; bragging rights within the conference, championships, everything.”