Michigan State is the Best Team in the Nation

Preseason polls are crazy. That’s just a fact of life when it comes to college sports. There are 347 teams in Division 1; it’s unreasonable to expect anyone to be able to rank them with any real accuracy, especially when they haven’t played any games yet. That being said, there is a massive mistake at the top of the table. Duke currently stands at number 1 while Michigan State ranks 2; the truth is exactly the opposite. Let’s get into it.

Coach K’s team is good, no question. Three five-star recruits in the starting lineup, a fourth off the bench, and the player many are picking as favorite to be the National Player of the year in Grayson Allen. That’s nothing to take lightly.

What the pollsters don’t seem to be looking at, however, are the significant concerns around this year’s squad from Durham, namely the departing players. Luke Kennard, Harry Giles Frank Jackson, and Jayson Tatum all went to the NBA, while Chase Jeter transferred to Arizona. All five players were key members of last year's team. To make matters worse, senior leaders Matt Jones and Amile Jefferson have graduated, in the way seniors tend to do, leaving the leadership up to the aforementioned Grayson Allen. If you’d like some insight into how he promises to fair in the role of leader, just type his name into the YouTube search field and watch a few of the videos.

Freshmen can certainly be successful in the NCAA. That’s been proven many times across the country, most notably in Kentucky, where roster turnover as significant as this is the norm. The thing is, Coach Cal has a lot of experience making this work, K doesn’t.

All that considered, Duke is pretty much guaranteed to be a good, even great, team. They just don’t deserve to be the best team in the country, at least not as long a Tom Izzo’s team is around.

In stark contrast to the Blue Devils, the Spartans have only lost two members of last season's roster, seniors Alvin Ellis III and Eron Harris, both to graduation. Miles Bridges, the stud wing player that everyone assumed was a one-and-done, has in fact returned for another run at the national championship. He’s joined by 5-star recruit PF Jaren Jackson Jr., SG Joshua Langford, and Big Man Nick Ward.

Michigan State is, without a doubt, the best college basketball team in the nation, even if the rankings say otherwise. Fortunately, they will get an opportunity to correct this egregious error on Tuesday the 14th of November when they face off directly with Duke in the champions classic. Look for them to win big time.