They Could

Michigan State Open Thread

Yeah, it doesn't seem particularly likely with Lester Abram reprising Mike Hart's role as the injured star relegated to looking on pensively from the bench. But they could. They could walk into Crisler tonight, play their asses off, and set the message boards a-gibberin' about gaps and how they're mighty thin these days, nothing to mind at all.

Such talk--guaranteed to occur--would be ludicrous, but after eight years in the wilderness brought on by NCAA sanctions, ludicrous optimism would be more than welcome. We would at least have something to talk about. 14-3 with a marquee win over a top ten team, a wounded Wisconsin team that suddenly looks more like the hunted than the hunter... things would look very different. The niggling little issue is: Michigan has won once since that whole implosion thing and this year's edition of the Spartans is no different from the merciless tanks that have ground down the token resistance Michigan has generally offered over the past eight or so years. Despite this Michigan has been installed as a two point favorite underdog (thanks newspaper, grumble).

I don't do the basketball predictions gig. I don't have the depth of knowledge, especially about the college game, to offer anything more than the same useless stuff you've read before. So I'll spare you the meandering paragraphs that add up to "Thog think play good is good," but I can tell you that if I was a gambling man I would be scrambling to find the deed to my farm.

It's not quite Underpants Gnomes, but this is how tonight goes:

1. ???
2. Beat Michigan State
3. Profit!

??? is probably "55% shooting from 3"... not likely. But they could.