It is always an interesting mystery as to what version of Izzo we are going to see after a tough loss (or sometimes even after a win).

Was Izzo going to blame the pick-and-roll defense? The poor shooting? The officials? Last night, Izzo took all or most of the blame himself. He was clearly very, very frustrated.

That said, a lot of things simply did not go well. Malik Hall being sick created a major match-up issue for the Spartans, especially if Crowl was going to suddenly become Seth Curry from the perimeter. MSU was down almost double digits, again, in the blink of an eye. As Izzo pointed out, MSU had some wide-open looks early and just could not hit them.

A major issue was rebounding, and Hall being slowed is not going to help that stat either. Izzo pointed out that Wisconsin did most of the kill-shot damage late due to second chance points. That seriously pissed him off and he threatened to pull about the football gear in practice. We will see how that goes.

A lot of folks have asked about why Booker did not play. All I can say is have you seen him play so far this year? We knew that he was coming in raw not strong enough yet for Big Ten play. Wisconsin's bigs would have eaten him alive, no matter what his high school ranking was. He is simply not ready yet. At all. By March? Maybe. But not right now.

A bigger question for me is Akins. He played only five minutes in the second half and Izzo clearly did not want to discuss why. He did not appear to be injured unless he tripped on his way into Izzo's doghouse. Hoggard was reasonably good last night, and Walker looked for a while in the early part of the second half like he was going to hero-ball MSU into a comeback. But I am not sure that he is 100% back from his illness yet either. He didn't make a single jumper in the entire first half.

So, if Hall is sick, Walker is not quite 100%, and Akins is MIA... MSU is not going to very good unless one of the role players (Holloman, Carr, Carter, or Sissoko) goes nuclear. That's just the way that it is.

Also, Wisconsin is pretty good folks. They are clearly at least the second-best team in the Big Ten right now and I think that they played really well last night. That looks like a team who will still be playing in the second weekend in March. The four teams that MSU has lost to this year are currently ranked No. 1, No. 18, No. 22 and No. 23 in the AP Poll. MSU competed will all those teams and probably should have won at least two of those games.

It is not time to panic, but it is time to start to be a little concerned. I still believe that there is a good to very good team in there somewhere, but the chances to pick up good wins are getting sparse. MSU needs to beat Nebraska on the road this weekend, much like how last year they needed to beat Penn State on the road after dropping the home game to Northwestern. Wisconsin this year is a lot better than that Wildcat team and Nebraska is likely not as good as Penn State was last year. Then, there is a week off before the final major non-conference test against No. 6 Baylor. That is also going to be tough, but MSU can absolutely win that game.

If MSU goes 1-1 over the next two games, it will not be a disaster, but 0-2 would be... concerning. If MSU can bounce back and go 2-0, the rest of December and into the new year should be smooth sailing. The Big Ten is not that strong this year, so MSU is going to need to finish 2-3 games over .500 to not be sweating on Selection Sunday. I am still confident, but I am getting concerned.

One more thing. Izzo did not talk about the officiating. There were no serious issues there, but I continue to have a MAJOR problem when teams come into Breslin, play very physically, and yet shoot twice as many free throws as a Tom Izzo coached team. That. Should. Never. Happen. MSU's guards drive into the lane ALL THE TIME, seem to draw a lot of contact, but rarely make it to the FT line. Never in a million years would that happen to a Coach K, Roy William, Bill Self, etc on any sort of consistent basis.

I don't think that officiating cost MSU the game, but it is getting very frustrating to watch other teams consistently get the benefit of the whistle. It has been happening to Izzo for decades now and it needs to stop. I don't buy the "style of play" or "not being aggressive enough" lines of argument. That's B.S. Sorry (not sorry.)

Anyway, here is my full article on Izzo's postgame:

Am I alone to think this is not a big loss?

Just curious the impact of not having a coach?

I'm even more confident now than I was on November 29th when I posted here that Aidan Chiles was going to end up at Michigan State once the transfer portal opened. My sourcing is even stronger now.

Of course, to be clear, there was no tampering. Student-athletes can do their due diligence and look into schools whenever they feel like it, through many different methods. Just because Chiles was looking into MSU as a destination before the transfer portal opened doesn't mean there was any wrongdoing.

In addition, sources come in all shapes and sizes. In this situation, I can't identify my sources, but that doesn't mean they are the same as others have. In fact, I compared my sourcing with another person in the industry whom I trust and - interestingly - our sources were completely different (in different aspects of the college football realm, no less).

In the end, it should be noted that things are always subject to change until a student-athlete signs on the dotted line (or enrolls in this case), but I fully expect Chiles to wear green and white.

Just got off the phone with a recruit and he told me that Oregon State director of player personnel Cole Moore has already reached out to him saying how much they want him to stay at Michigan State and be a part of the program with the new regime. Obviously, this would indicate that Jonathan Smith is planning to bring over at least part of his current recruiting staff at OSU. No word yet on what this means for MSU's current recruiting staff.

Edit: I initially had Jalen Moore's name written down (based on what the first recruit I spoke to told me), and a different recruit later clarified he had been in contact with Cole Moore. Also, director of recruiting Michael Doctor was brought up by a recruit and in my initial report. Doctor has been offered the job, but as Dylan mentions below, he hasn’t officially accepted yet. He is currently mulling it over.

Going on regarding MSU.

Does anyone really know the difference between SD4L and This is Sparta NIL collectives?

Who runs them?

How are athletes contacted and funds determined?

There is a big push for donations, however it seems like a big black hole right now lacking transparency.

Anyone that has more intel?

Section 210, Row 11, Seats 103-104, with parking pass.

All games available.

If interested, call or text Joe at (313) 671-5953.

I seem to remember the 2019-20 4 out of 5 B!G losses in February.

Can’t be any worse than what is on the floor currently.

Jonathan Smith and some of his staff recently stopped by Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and extended several offers to in-state recruits.

Two of those offers included 2025 LB Charles White and 2026 TE Jack Janda.

Story on their reactions to getting offered by the Spartans:

I am here with Brenden and Ryan will be here soon. Malik Hall is listed as questionable, but he is warming up with the team and looks good to go.

Michigan State drops conference season opener 70-57 to No. 23 Wisconsin as shooting woes continue alongside poor rebounding.

Game recap:

Adam Friedman dropped an article today for Rivals Rankings Week that looks at the running back position. He doesn't get too heavily into Michigan State here, but does mention that MSU appears to be in a good position for a recommitment from four-star running back Anthony Carrie.

While there has not been a whole lot of new intel regarding Carrie, he reiterated with Spartans Illustrated he is locked in for his official visit on Dec. 15 through Dec. 17, a date that we have previously reported. Getting him on campus just a few days before the early signing period opens on Dec. 20 certainly bodes well for the Spartans. This isn't a lock by any means. Nothing is certain, of course, and he has a decision to make, but things are certainly trending well for Michigan State.

I think he puts too much of the weight of the university on his shoulders. The football coach fiasco. The presidential search. The board of trustees mess. I wonder if he's too distracted. He even had to be the face of the university after the shooting at Berkey Hall (and I'm glad he was).

Or, this group of guys just isn't very good -- for reasons hard to tell (other than we shoot poorly and don't play good team defense).

Cross posting this from On3 & 247, since it benefits all Spartans, we are doing a giving match with the head of This is Sparta, Tom!

Post if you make a donation here. Just put $25-$50 in!

If you pay by credit card online (very likely for most people), Tom will personally email you shortly after and you can tell him it’s for football and particularly from the 247/On3/Rivals fundraising.

Post below for reference and link to give:

Ok everybody, in response to the lengthy thread on NIL last night, it’s time we all did our part. I am very pleased to announce that jrmsu contacted me and will match the next $1,500 that is given for football!
I am so impressed by this gesture, that we will add a match of the next $3,500. That is a total match of $5,000. We do this and that gives the Mag Fund (ok, I made that up) $10,000 to use for MSU football! Let’s take this into our own hands!

All contributions are tax deductible. Here is the link for giving on-line:
https://cgaamerica.org/this-is-sparta

When you consider what just happened to FSU and that all four teams are going to be SEC or Big Ten next year. I wonder if FSU , Miami, Clemson figure out that while they will get in a twelve team playoff they will continue to be punished for playing in a less superior conference

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EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer players Jonathan Stout, Zac Kelly, and Jeremy Sharp all earned spots on the United Soccer Coaches All-North Region team on Tuesday. Stout was named to the first team, Kelly to the second, while Sharp captured third-team honors.

The trio were the first Spartans to capture All-North Region honors since 2018 when Giuseppe Barone and Patrick Nielsen were named to the first team and Jimmy Hague Ryan Sierakowski earned second-team nods.

Stout, a native of Wyoming, Michigan, earned his first all-region accolades after also capturing first-team All-Big Ten honors earlier this season. The sophomore midfielder was second on the team in scoring with five goals for 10 points, including one game-winning goal. He was the first player to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors since Jack Beck and Farai Mutatu in 2021.

Kelly, a native of Holt, Michigan, was stellar in net for Michigan State this season. The redshirt-sophomore recorded five shutouts this season, which was the most since 2018. He ended the season first in the Big Ten in saves per game (3.88) and third in goals against average (0.94). In his first season as a starter, Kelly played every minute in net for the Spartans this year.

Jeremy Sharp, a sophomore defender who hails from Roseville, Michigan, earned his first all-region accolade. Sharp has been a key part of the Spartan backline that has allowed only 15 goals this season. The defender has played in all 16 games, starting 15. Sharp was tied for third in the Big Ten and was first on the team in assists with five.

Michigan State finished the season with a 7-2-7 record, including a road win over Notre Dame who just advanced to the NCAA College Cup.

Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Section 210 Row 11, Seats 103-104, plus parking pass.

If interested call or text Joe at (313) 671-5953.

Section 210, Row 11, Seats 103-104, plus parking pass.

If interested call or text Joe at (313) 671-5953.

Four Spartans have joined Maxim Strbak in being named to their home countries preliminary roster for the 2024 World Junior Championship. Today Freshman goaltender Trey Augustine, Freshman Defensemen Patrick Geary, and Sophomore Forward Isaac Howard were named to the USA Preliminary roster. Freshman Forward Tommi Mannisto was added to the preliminary roster for Finland.

From the USAHockey release:
USA Hockey has named 29 players to the preliminary roster of its 2024 U.S. National Junior Team it was announced today. The group, which includes eight members of the bronze medal-winning 2023 U.S. National Junior Team, will gather for a training camp at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich., from Dec. 14-16.

Players are auditioning for a spot on the final 25-player roster that will represent the United States in the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship Dec. 26, 2023 – Jan. 5, 2024, in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Click to expand...

Howard and Augustine previously have represented the USA at the NTDP and Augustine was the starting goaltender for the Americans last winter at the 2023 IIHF WJC. Geary has played his way onto this stage by having 3 goals, 3 assists in 10 games played this season, and has not represented the USA before. It will be an uphill battle for Geary to make the final roster as ten college defensemen will be in camp total, but this is a great honor for him to make this step.

Mannisto has represented Finland previously at the U18 WJC and is looking to make his U20 debut in this tournament, but has represented Finland previously at other U20 events.

Players at the WJC will definitely miss the Great Lakes Invitational at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids Dec 28-29. Luckily the next action after that for the Spartans is a scrimmage against US NTDP on January 5th meaning the roster should be back to full for the resuming of B1G Play at Penn State January 12.