Will MSU Basketball See Progression, Regression or Static?

Do the Spartans see a rise, fall, or flatline in 2025?

Mar 30, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo during the second half in the South Regional final of the 2025 NCAA tournament against the Auburn Tigers at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Michigan State Spartans are coming off a mighty impressive 2024-25 season and are looking to repeat the same sort of success and take an even larger step further to make their 11th Final Four in program history.

With a lot of new faces on this year's roster and a much-improved Big Ten conference, will the Spartans progress, regress or remain the same team they were last year?

The Spartans have recently been left out of ESPN's preseason college basketball rankings after completing last season as the No. 7 team in the country. Many must feel that the Spartans lost too many crucial pieces while not adding enough in recruiting and the transfer portal.

Funny enough, the Spartans were an unranked team for the beginning of last season until they beat North Carolina in overtime, the day before Thanksgiving. They would then go on to win 13-straight games and dominate in the Big Ten with a 17-3 conference record.

Even while losing several key pieces from last year's team, the Spartans are going to find success due to multiple factors. In the end, they will likely regress just a tough from where they were last year, just with different personnel leading them.

Having Hall-of-Fame head coach Tom Izzo always gives the Spartans their best chance to be great. Adding a pair of four-star incoming freshman forwards in Cam Ward and Jordan Scott is a big plus, but their production peak might not come through in Year 1.

Transfer additions of Samford guard Trey Fort and backup point guard Divine Ugochukwu are crucial to this team's success but is feels as if the Spartans took a major step back when FAU transfer forward Kaleb Glenn suffered a torn patellar tendon that will sideline him for the entire season.

Coupling those factors with the Big Ten being exponentially better than it was last year is why MSU is going to have a tough time repeating as Big Ten champions, being a No. 2 tournament seed, and making an Elite Eight.

Michigan and UCLA both got much better with some clutch transfer additions, Purdue is still regarded to be the No. 1 team in the country by many publications, and teams like Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio State and others are going to be hungry to knock off the Spartans.

This team will still win 20-25 games next season, but being able to repeat as conference champions and have the same sort of success that they did last year is not the most likely scenario to occur next season.

Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our vibrant community group, Go Green Go White, as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.