After a surprising season that ended in a Final Four berth, Michigan State and Tom Izzo have a chance to return most of their core, which has them highly regarded in the eyes of analysts.
As I noted yesterday, Michigan State is in the unique position to return most of their roster from this year’s Final Four run. They will be losing starters Kenny Goins and Matt McQuaid, but should be returning the rest of their key players. The one caveat will be Cassius Winston, whose status Izzo declined to comment on.
Typically when a team has this much success, you will see some of their key players leave for the draft. Not with this team. By returning most of their core, analysts, like Scott Gleeson from USA Today, are already starting to rank Michigan State as the preseason #1.
With additions like Rocket Watts set to join the lineup, this should be a formidable team who has every chance to make it back to the Final Four. This could play out very similarly to the 1999 to 2000 Spartans, where Mateen Cleaves stayed in school after reaching the Final Four and was able to bring the Spartans a title.
So while it might not mean a ton yet, we will keep you posted on other preseason rankings that have the Spartans in position at the top, like Jon Rothstein’s from CBS Sports:
