College basketball insider and CBS Sports analyst Jon Rothstein is not particularly high on the Spartans entering next season.
On Wednesday, Rothstein released his updated “ROTHSTEIN 45” early-edition rankings for the 2021-22 college basketball season and Michigan State is currently sitting outside the top 25. Rothstein has the Spartans as No. 29 in his updated rankings — click on the tweet below to see the full rankings.
Auburn looks like the team to beat in the SEC entering the 21-22 season.
The Tigers are now NINTH in the ROTHSTEIN 45.https://t.co/32r42XJJ5Q
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 19, 2021
Rothstein has seven Big Ten teams listed in his updated rankings, including Ohio State (No. 5), Purdue (No. 6), Michigan (No. 8), Maryland (No. 10), Indiana (No. 30), and Illinois (No. 33).
Like many who’ve put out these super early rankings, Rothstein has four Big Ten schools in an upper-tier (Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan and Maryland) and after that, there’s a noticeable drop-off to the next tier. That next tier certainly seems fitting for the Spartans at this point in time, but I personally believe Michigan State should be ranked higher than No. 29.
Some more roster shake-ups could be in store for the Spartans with still two open scholarships so we could potentially see Michigan State move up these rankings soon. Either way, it’s clear that Rothstein doesn’t anticipate Michigan State winning the Big Ten next year.
