Quite frankly, it felt a little strange, if not disrespectful, that Michigan State basketball started the year ranked as low as they were in both the Coaches and AP Top-25 polls. While I’m sure Tom Izzo was happy to have more bulletin board material to motivate his team, starting at the bottom of the Top-25 was weird for a team that just won the Big Ten outright and made it to the Elite 8.
The voters are finally starting to right those wrongs now, however. On Monday, almost a week removed from the Spartans’ complete domination of Kentucky, the new polls came out and MSU in nearly in the Top-10 in both the Coaches and the AP polls.
Kentucky is now at No. 18 following their loss to MSU. Arkansas, who Michigan State beat the week prior, is at No. 21. In the Big Ten, Purdue still leads the way at No. 1, with Michigan at No. 6. Illinois fell to No. 14 after their loss to Alabama. UCLA and Indiana are still ranked as well.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State basketball makes significant jump in the polls
Reporting by Andrew Brewster, Spartans Wire / Spartans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
