" title="Spartans Weblog">Spartans Weblog

The Spartans dodge a bullet and win an outright title, all in same night.  64-59 MSU in a 60-possession game.  StatSheet box score.
Weird game:
Stats by StatSheet.com

Indiana kept the rebounding battle close, both teams turned the ball over with regularity, and sloppy defense led to a lot of free throw attempts.  Thankfully, our shooting was good [...]

Get ready to pop open the champagne, my friends.  (I myself have a bottle of Chimay I’ve been saving for such an occasion.)
Pregame Reading

Fun with seeds
Mr. Rexrode breaks it down.  Being the last of the #1 seeds really isn’t any better than being the first of the #2 seeds.
Michigan State, take 2
The Hoosier Report’s take [...]

Rankings Update

AP: #8 (up from #9)
Coaches: #8 (up from #9)
Blogpoll: #8 (up from #9)
Sagarin: #6 (up from #7)
Kenpom: #12 (steady from last week)
RPI: #4 (up from #5)
Bracketology: #2 seed (up from #3 seed)
Crashing the Dance: #2 seed (steady from last week)

Question (that I do not know the answer to): Could we be placed in the [...]

Friday Morning Links

Michigan State forward Raymar Morgan to miss second straight game
“Does appear to be improving.”
If Izzo’s Spartans can get fully healthy, watch out
Tom Izzo didn’t see the Super Bowl.
Game 23: Penn State at Michigan Post Game
Manny Harris and Co. on the rebound going into next Tuesday’s game?
Mike Krzyzewski and his coaches look similarly unhappy
This [...]

Note: It was a busy Saturday at the Spartans Weblog residence, so I only saw about three-quarters of the game.  These musings are, therefore, even more random than my normal football musings.  Nevertheless:

Another monumental performance by Javon Ringer: 198 yards on 44 carries.  The offensive/special teams touch counts are now up to 203 for Ringer [...]

First, a few basketball links:

Eric Lacy reports that Athlon has MSU ranked #14 in their preseason magazine.
Tom Herzog talks about the student part of being a student-athlete. He’s an applied engineering sciences major.  (Hat tip: Spartan Sports Page.)
24 hours straight (roughly) of basketball on the ESPN family of networks to tip-off the season! The Purdue [...]

Here are a couple NBA-related items:
In the midst of a made-for-TV finals match-up, the NBA gets hit with the ultimate allegation: league officials basically fixed playoff games to increase TV ratings.  Now ex-referee Tim Donaghy certainly doesn’t qualify as a rock of credibility, but here’s the thing: it doesn’t really matter whether Donaghy’s accusations are [...]