Michigan State basketball slides into top 20 of latest AP Top 25

The latest AP Top 25 poll was released on Monday afternoon and Michigan State basketball is moving up.

After debuting in the Top 25 last week at No. 21, Michigan State got the entire week off and still moved up to No. 20. This is their highest ranking since the first couple weeks of last season, making it over a year since the Spartans were ranked in the top 20.

Now, after one of the strongest starts to a season since the Cassius Winston era, the Spartans are back in the top 20. And if all goes as planned, they won’t lose another game until after the new year. The remaining non-conference schedule sees Michigan State going to LCA on Tuesday to face Oakland and then it will host FAU and Western Michigan before re-opening Big Ten play with Ohio State.

The Spartans have been playing some really good basketball this season for Tom Izzo. It feels like he’s gotten his mojo back as a head coach and the team is flourishing as a result. They’re 8-2 on the year and their only two losses were to the No. 8 and No. 21 teams in the latest poll.

If Michigan State were to face Kansas or Memphis right now, I think the Spartans come out on top, but they stumbled against both earlier in the year before beating North Carolina and then stomping both Minnesota and Nebraska to begin Big Ten play.

Michigan State is one of a handful of teams ranked in the Week 7 AP Top 25. The others are:

• No. 10 – Oregon
• No. 16 – Purdue
• No. 18 – UCLA
• No. 24 – Michigan

Big Ten teams like Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin have all been flirting with the rankings this season but have each dropped out recently. Maryland, Illinois, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Indiana all received votes in the latest AP Top 25.

We could see a top-10 Michigan State basketball team in the near future.