REPORT: Top CBB Analyst Shares Thoughts on This MSU Squad

ESPN's Jay Bilas highlighted why Michigan State could make a run in March and what could end up hurting it.

ESPN commentator Jay Bilas before the Kentucky-Auburn men's basketball game Saturday afternoon in Lexington, Kentucky March 1, 2025 | Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Michigan State Spartans take on the Oregon Ducks on Friday, looking to make a run and win the Big Ten Tournament. 

After the conference tournament comes the real thing. The Spartans will likely earn a No. 2 seed, but winning the next three games could give them an outside chance of landing a No. 1 seed. 

No matter what seed they land, this has been a successful season for Tom Izzo’s team. After the last few seasons, Spartan fans’ patience was running thin, and they wanted to see another banner in the rafters of the Breslin Center. 

What is this MSU team capable of in the NCAA Tournament? What may hold them back? 

It’s well-known how good this team is on defense and on the glass. It’s probably even more well-known how poorly it has shot the ball from three-point range (however, it has shot it better over the final seven games). 

ESPN’s top college basketball analyst Jay Bilas recently joined "Against All Odds" with Cousin Sal and discussed this Spartan team heading into the tournament. 

“They’re a team that’s actually surprised me,” he said. “When I saw them early in the season, I just didn’t think they were going to be this good. They don’t shoot it very well at all, and they’re actually a team of what I consider to be good shooters; they’ve always been good shooters in the past.

"Last time I looked before they played Wisconsin, they were shooting, like, 29% from 3.”

Bilas has seen the impressive improvement from this team since the early part of the season. 

“The good news there is they’ve kind of adapted, and now they get to the free throw line like crazy,” he said. “They’ve got really good depth, their big guys are really starting to play at a high level. They’re a very together group. So, they’ve got a bunch of different weapons that can hurt you at different times in the game, and in different games.”

Bilas laid out what he expects from MSU come tournament time. 

“I think they’re a second-weekend team, for sure,” he said. “Just because of the team they have, and then Tom Izzo and his record in March. He really is one of the greatest coaches of our time, in my opinion, in any sport.

"So, I think they’re second weekend, but I do wonder about their ability to make shots, because they’re going to have to in the tournament. You’re not going to be able to shoot 29 percent from three and beat people.”

The Spartans have shown improvement from beyond the arc. We will see if it leads to a deep run in the tournament. 

Bilas, however, was spot on in his analysis of Izzo as one of the greatest coaches of the generation. 

That’s the type of coach you don’t bet against in March.

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