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     Tom Izzo says he'll assume the leadership role of his Michigan State basketball team for the remainder of the season-- but I'm thinking the players will still determine how far the Spartans go in the NCAA tournament.  Virtually no one gives State a chance in a third round game in St. Louis against top seed Kansas if it comes to that.  The question is can MSU get that far?  New Mexico State is a 13 point underdog in Friday's opener in Spokane, Washington but MSU will have to play well to win let alone cover that spread.  And a second game, likely against Maryland, would be no picnic whatsoever.

     It's hard to tell where the Spartans are relative to how much they want to play and if they really have designs on making a tournament run.  They had great momentum from close wins last year but they also had Travis Walton and Goran Suton and I think they'll dearly miss both of them in the next three weeks.  Does that mean they can't make a tournament run?  Of course not because no one wants to play Michigan State either.  MSU is still dangerous IF it plays to the level of ability each player has.  If the Spartans win twice in Spokane they'll have some momentum and time to prepare for a game in St. Louis against Kansas.  I'd bet MSU would give Kansas a run because the Spartans are good at playing up to or down to the level of their competition.  But whether they get that far is the first major question to get answered.