“Anything less, for me, is a disappointment,” junior forward Draymond Green said at Big Ten Media Day on Oct. 12. “That’s the standard. Some people may look at it as not fair, but that’s the reason we chose Michigan State; that’s why we came here. We’re competitors.

“So anything less than not winning a national championship is basically failure.”

Failure is a word not often associated with head coach Tom Izzo’s program. So should fans be booking flights and hotel rooms in Houston come April?

Let’s keep those checkbooks in the drawer for a couple months.

This team has everything you could ask from a champion: talent, chemistry, experience on the highest stage and great coaching. But the coach himself has said it takes more than on- and off-the-court success to win a championship. It takes a little luck.

Last season, the Spartans were lucky. No. 1 overall seed Kansas fell to Northern Iowa in the second round. MSU’s march to the 2010 Final Four saw the Spartans play no higher than a No. 4 seed opponent.

But rest assured, this team has as good a shot as anyone in the country. And maybe as good a shot as any team in MSU history.

After an offseason filled with various distractions, the Spartans finally have the blinders on and have their eyes set on a championship; but don’t forget it’s a long, strange journey to get there.

Don’t expect the world out of this team right off the bat. Almost every regular contributor suffered some sort of injury in the offseason and it could take more than a few weeks for the team to heal and then gel. The typically brutal nonconference schedule won’t allow the Spartans to sit back and relax. Trips to Durham, N.C., and New York City to face defending national champion Duke and Syracuse, respectively, will give the Spartans the feel of March Madness.

But while the nationally televised matchups with traditional powers will grab the attention, don’t overlook the midweek games on the Big Ten Network.

The Big Ten is the best it’s been in a long, long time, and, like last season, the conference champion likely will have at least three losses on its league record. The Spartans will need to take care of business in the bottom half of the league because trips to Champaign, Ill., West Lafayette, Ind., Madison, Wis., and Columbus, Ohio, are daunting to say the least.

But if ever there was an MSU team that could rise above it, it’s this one. The Final Four run last season was one of the most inspirational performances up and down the roster. Every player fought through some sort of injury for the betterment of their teammates and the team finally became a family.

The Spartans showed they can overcome a Robbie Hummel-type injury and, while the team is full of superstars, the chemistry is greater than their individual talents. The night Izzo announced he would remain at MSU “for life,” he talked about his motivation to win that second national championship.

“I like some of the things we’ve accomplished,” Izzo said at the June 15 press conference.

“But, as I tell my players, you’re judged on the last guy standing. It’s nice to go to Final Fours, (but) that’s not how you’re remembered.”

The players have the same mindset.

Green took the leadership role Izzo was looking for last season, and there’s no doubt whom the Spartans will look to for the vocal leadership. Senior guard Kalin Lucas still is the floor general but Green will keep the team humbled and hungry.

After all, Green never has finished a collegiate season without cutting down some nets.

He’ll make sure he doesn’t start now.

Chris Vannini is The State News’ sports editor. He can be reached at vanninic@msu.edu.