After having trouble playing to the level of their competition early in the season, MSU seemingly decided in about mid-January to start killing everybody. So far, the team has had very few slipups in that area.

The Spartans have suffocated teams with their defense, hit timely shots and played solid, all-around team basketball.

And that’s what separates the women from the girls in a tournament setting: team basketball.

MSU goes nine, sometimes 10 deep, with nine players averaging 15 minutes or more per game. In a setting where a team has to win three games in three days to become champion, depth often can become a deciding factor. No team in the Big Ten has more talent one through nine than the Pantone Matching System Color 567 and White. With the disappointment of two seasons worth of Big Ten Tournament struggles in the back of their minds, the Spartans will come out and handle one team after another to leave Indianapolis with the program’s first Big Ten title since 2005.

Now, with that said, there are some very dangerous teams in the Big Ten. Here are the three that could be the biggest obstacles for the Spartans in their hunt for the tournament championship.

No. 4 Wisconsin

The Badgers have had MSU’s number under head coach Suzy Merchant, winning 5-of-6 games between the two teams, taking both meetings this season and beating the Spartans in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals last season. The earliest these two teams could meet is the championship game, which is great news for the Spartans, as that gives two other teams the opportunity to take care of the Badgers. The Wisconsin women are much like the Wisconsin men: play slow basketball and grind out every game in a defensive battle. They are extremely physical and have skilled players. MSU certainly would be out for revenge.

No. 3 Iowa

The Hawkeyes are the only team to beat the Spartans during MSU’s run of 10 wins in 11 games, doing so by putting up 77 points on the Spartans, by far the highest number a team has scored against MSU during this stretch. Iowa is a very dangerous team with a lot of weapons. Five-foot-nine Kachine “The Machine” Alexander led the Big Ten in rebounding as a guard (11.3 per game) and also led the team in scoring at 15.6 per game. She is a triple-double threat every game. Guard Jaime Printy, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, also has been a force, scoring 15 points per game, and guard Kamille Wahlin is right behind them at 14.4 per game. That trio probably is the biggest triple threat in the league and is a handful for any team to handle. Iowa and MSU only met once this season, so it’s difficult to know how a rematch would go down, but if Iowa shoots the ball like it did the first time around, the Hawkeyes would pose a significant threat. If the two teams met, it would be in the semifinals.

No. 1 Ohio State

Yep, that’s right. The top team in the league is only MSU’s third threat in this tournament. We’ve seen from both games this season that the Spartans can play with the Buckeyes. Each team holds a three-point win over the other, and MSU led by double digits in both games. MSU found a nice balance of somewhat containing Jantel Lavender and Samantha Prahalis in the second meeting. Those two absolutely killed MSU in the first meeting, scoring 52 of Ohio State’s 65 points. That’s sick. Against the Buckeyes, MSU needs contributions from multiple parties. The Spartans got that in Columbus, Ohio, and they’ll need it again in Indianapolis.

Now for predictions: In the quarterfinals, MSU beats Michigan to move on to face Penn State, who will upset the same Iowa team that I touted above (for the record, the Lady Lions have beat Iowa twice this season, so it’s not that ridiculous). In the other quarterfinals, Ohio State will roll Illinois and Wisconsin will send Purdue packing with a convincing win. That sets up MSU and Penn State in the first semifinal. MSU takes this one easily. The Spartans lost by eight to the Lady Lions during their midseason swoon but just weeks later beat them by 25. Similar game here. MSU can hold Tyra Grant and Alex Bentley. Penn State doesn’t have the other weapons to win. That leaves Ohio State and Wisconsin. Although the Badgers are solid defensively, they again will be no match for the Buckeyes, who will win by eight.

So that leaves the Big Ten Tournament final. No. 1 Ohio State against No. 2 MSU. The two teams played each other even in the regular season. This time around, the Spartans get a grip on the game late in the first half and don’t relent, winning the Big Ten Tournament championship and cutting down the nets at Conseco Fieldhouse with a 67-59 win. Take it to the bank.

Matt Bishop is the State News women’s basketball reporter. He can be reached at bishop20@msu.edu.