There's still a long way to go-- but Michigan State's men's basketball team has to be considered in the mix for the NCAA basketball title when a champ is crowned April 5th in Indianapolis.  That's where the Spartans won it all in 2000 and maybe ten years later MSU will cut down the nets again-- but obviously there's a long way to go.

     MSU may be one player short.  I think they still need another scorer inside-- not everyone plays well every night and that was the case once again in Tuesday's win at Michigan.  The two one point road wins in and of themselves aren't all that big a deal, but winning on the road is always tough and MSU is always someone else's big game.  Michigan poured a lot into Tuesday's game and but for a tip that was a bit too hard, Michigan would have had an impressive win.  But maybe it's MSU's year-- there is no standout team in America similar to North Carolina of a year ago.  There must be at least 15 teams who think they can be playing well at the right time in mid March, get the ball to bounce right, get some calls and geographical breaks by their tournament assignments and make a run like MSU made a year ago.  February will be an interesting month for contending teams, certainly including