Every fall, college football administrators around the country collectively hold their breath in anticipation of their grades. Atypical of grades normally seen on college campuses, these are released by the Black Coaches & Administrators, or BCA, and reflect on the demographics of black coaches in Division I football programs.
It’s once again that time to guess the outcome of this weekend’s games with the State News prognosticators.
Nobody wants to finish in last place. But with the 10th place MSU hockey team playing a home-and-home series against last place Bowling Green this weekend, it’s not farfetched to say the loser of the weekend might finish at the bottom of the pile in the CCHA this season.
Whatever Michigan guard Manny Harris tried to do, it simply wouldn’t work. The Wolverines’ 6-foot-5 guard tried to drive through the lane, post up in the paint and spot up from three, but wherever he went on Feb. 10, MSU senior guard Travis Walton was there in his face.
Intensity hasn’t been a problem for the MSU women’s basketball team all season. But in Michigan week, the Spartans have ratchetted up any extra moxie they have left to get the best of their in-state rivals and keep themselves on track for a Big Ten Championship.
The Big Ten Conference has always been a league known for its physical style of play, with the MSU men’s basketball team embodying that image for the past decade.
Former MSU football great Brad Van Pelt died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack in Harrison, according to the MSU athletics department. He was 57 years old.
For more than a month, Purdue forward Robbie Hummel had been waiting for his injured back to heal. His back felt so good Tuesday, he gave his entire team a ride.
Throughout the season, Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers have firmly taken over the role of dynamic scorers for the MSU men’s basketball team. With the glory of that role also comes the challenge of drawing the opponent’s best defender, which on Tuesday night was the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
Going into its opening weekend, Eric Roof has no problems rattling off the MSU baseball team’s strengths. It was the weaknesses he was stumped on.
Scoring first has been the catalyst for the success of the MSU hockey team of late. The Spartans have scored the first goal in each of the last five games, going 2-1-2 in that span — earning seven points to pull into a tie for 10th place in the CCHA.
Purdue is listed next on the MSU men’s basketball team’s schedule, but head coach Tom Izzo still isn’t sure which team will show up tonight at Mackey Arena. It could either be the team with Robbie Hummel or the team without him. According to Izzo, the difference between those scenarios is like night and day.
The last time the MSU women’s basketball team got a full week of rest was prior to the Jan. 15 game against Michigan, a 41-37 win in Ann Arbor. Since then, the Spartans have won seven of eight games, moving into first place in the Big Ten.
The MSU hockey team had the towel in hand. After being pushed around, pummeled and knocked down time and time again this season, it would have been easy to simply toss in the towel and prepare for the next fight — or next season.
Good old-fashioned grit. That’s how the MSU women’s basketball team has made its way to the top of the Big Ten standings the last month.
With a contingent of family and friends in attendance, Kelsey Morley couldn’t deny feeling something special going into Saturday’s meet.
The MSU men’s tennis team saw its perfect regular season fade into thin air Saturday, but not all was lost at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility.
It’s not that senior guard Travis Walton needed reminding, but he watched film from the last time the MSU men’s basketball team traveled to Purdue anyway. Then he watched it again.
With what MSU wrestling coach Tom Minkel calls “the youngest team in the history of college wrestling,” there are likely to be a number of shortfalls — especially wrestling against ranked opponents in nearly every competition.
As the losses have piled up this season, the MSU hockey team has become accustomed to returning to the locker room after a game in poor spirits. But after Saturday’s 2-1 win and Friday’s 1-1 tie and shootout victory against No. 16 Ohio State, the Spartans had a reason to celebrate on Valentine’s Day.