What a difference a month makes.
As the first big snowfall covered the East Lansing streets in early January, there hardly was a buzz around MSU.
That's surprising, considering two things: It was the start of the Big Ten season for the Spartans, who were picked to win the conference for the fifth time in six years, and MSU basketball is what sports fans anticipate every fall in East Lansing.
This year was different. MSU's 5-6 nonconference record and 0-6 record against the nation's elite teams had people calling this Spartan team the most overrated in head coach Tom Izzo's tenure at MSU. But it wasn't only that. The Spartans were playing so poorly - even in their wins - it seemed MSU's record wouldn't be good enough to grant them an NIT bid, let alone a spot in the Field of 65.
Predictions filled the radio waves: "They'll win five or six conference games, seven if they're lucky? I don't see them doing any better than 6-10. They just aren't that good?"
The rants went on and on.
But as the bitter winds of February twist through the East Lansing streets and the Big Ten season hits the midway point, the Spartans aren't looking unbearable, they're looking unbeatable.
Saturday, the second half of the Big Ten season kicks off with a noon tip against Ohio State (11-10 overall, 3-5 Big Ten) - a team that on the surface looks like an easy opponent for the Spartans to continue their recent hot streak against.
MSU (11-8, 6-2) has won six of its last seven games, and the one loss is a game MSU knows it should have won. Regardless of the December struggles, it's a position the Spartans expected to be in.
"I feel good about it, especially when I think about where we were," Izzo said. "I think it shows great resiliency by our guys. But, 6-2 is the halfway point - there is a potential for a lot of wins and there is a potential for a lot of losses.
"But you have to be in the hunt before you get the prize. We're in the hunt."
That prize is a Big Ten Championship, and the Spartans are just a half-game behind Wisconsin (15-3, 6-1) for the conference lead.
In his five years at MSU, senior center Jason Andreas has been in all sorts of positions midway through the Big Ten season. The fifth-year senior was redshirted when MSU won its 2000 National Championship (MSU was 7-1 midway through the conference season). His freshman year athletically, MSU went to the Final Four for the third straight year and was 6-2 through eight Big Ten games.
In 2002, MSU's most disappointing season in recent memory, MSU's 4-4 mark to start the Big Ten season wasn't pretty, and neither was a NCAA Tournament first round exit. Last season, Andreas and the Spartans also went 4-4 to start the conference but turned things around to make the Elite Eight.
He said being in all the different positions through eight games gives him a great perspective of what he and his younger teammates need to do for the rest of the year.
"This is some new territory for some new guys on your team because when you start to win, when you get your record up there, when you start to take first, second, third place in the Big Ten, teams start gunning for you," Andreas said. "You have a lot more pressure on your shoulders."
The pressure gets a little more intense when the Spartans begin their two-game road trip against the Buckeyes. MSU follows up that game with just two days rest before taking on Illinois.
And don't think the Spartans will be happy taking one of two on the road.
"We're always looking for two wins," Andreas said. "When you put yourself in a position to win a championship, when you put yourself at the top of the league, you have to win every game - it doesn't matter if they're home or away."
Sophomore center Paul Davis echoed his teammate's sentiments.
"We're not satisfied yet," he said. "You talk to anybody in the program and they'll tell you we're not going to be satisfied until we get that championship.
"We had a decent first half, but we have to have an even better second half - we have to win out and it starts with Ohio State."
The Buckeyes are the squad Izzo picked as his "sleeper" team before the season. But what has surprised Izzo is their inconsistency.
Ohio State lost at Penn State, but then went to West Lafayette and beat a ranked Purdue squad. That, however, is enough to let Izzo know his Spartans must not take the struggling Buckeyes lightly.
"To go into Purdue and win, not a lot of people can do that," Izzo said. "They have a great coach, very good big men, talented guards that have been up and down - but they are starting to play better."
Andreas said this game all goes back to playing like a champion.
"One of Coach Izzo's mottos that he came up with is 'never relax' and that holds especially true now when you're in a position to win a championship," he said. "If you do, teams are going to come at you and knock you off, and you're not to going to be in a position to win a championship anymore."
