At first glance, I thought the crux of Michigan State’s Big Ten basketball schedule, released Thursday afternoon, was in January — with games against Michigan, at Wisconsin, at Illinois, Purdue, at Indiana and at Purdue all from Jan. 7 to the end of the month.
That stretch will likely largely determine MSU’s fate as a Big Ten title contender. But this year, as much as any year I can remember, I can’t tell you what most of the teams in the Big Ten will be. There’s an argument that MSU’s close to the season, Feb. 12 on, will be just as tricky — with games at Ohio State, at Michigan, against Indiana, at Iowa and Ohio State at home as five of the Spartans’ final seven games.