Why Offense Must Improve for MSU's Final Four Hopes

Michigan State hasn't been scoring enough points to be a true national title contender lately.

The Spartans finished up the 2025-26 season with the No. 23 offense in the country at KenPom. Arch-rival Michigan, the champion, was fourth offensively. Finishing 23rd was actually the best MSU has done on the offensive end since the 2019-20 season, when Michigan State was forever left in limbo by COVID at 10th.

Championship Trends

Mar 27, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo reacts in the first half during a Sweet Sixteen game of the East Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

You have to be elite on both ends of the court these days to win a National Championship. It makes plenty of sense. Good teams in general will be good at both offense and defense, but title contenders are great at both ends, because that's how you buy enough margin for error to give yourself a chance at winning six NCAA Tournament games in a row.

Defense hasn't really been an issue for Michigan State. The Spartans finished 13th in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency metric this season, but they were above that mark for much of the campaign, reaching No. 1 at one point. In the two years before that, MSU finished fourth on defense in 2024-25 and ninth in 2023-24.

Mar 27, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; Michigan State Spartans forward Coen Carr (55) shoots the ball past UConn Huskies guard Silas Demary Jr. (2) in the first half during a Sweet Sixteen game of the East Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Offense Must Catch Up

Getting the offense up into that range is the next step for Tom Izzo. His eight Final Four teams at Michigan State have finished with an average offensive ranking of 11.5 on KenPom. Four of them were in the top five, and another was ranked sixth. His National Championship team in 1999-00 was ranked second on offense.

Putting together another team that ranks in the 20s or 30s on offense is much more likely to exit in the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight. That's still a good season, but MSU doesn't hang Elite Eight banners; it hangs ones for Final Fours and national titles. There hasn't been a national champion ranked outside the top 10 offensively since 7-seed UConn won in 2014, which isn't the most replicable run to go off of.

Why MSU Can Improve Offense

Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr. (1) celebrates 77-69 win over Louisville at the NCAA Tournament Second Round at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Saturday, March 21, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This is a big reason why I think the Spartans need a transfer portal center with a nice offensive game. Top teams these days have scoring threats at positions 1-5. Jeremy Fears Jr. can score, incoming freshman Jasiah Jervis can score, Jordan Scott and Kaleb Glenn can score/shoot, and Coen Carr is a walking highlight reel on the fastbreak. Anton Bonke will be a nice lob threat who can stretch the floor.

Keeping nearly everyone around also helps. It's a little counterintuitive to say that about an offense that I just have been saying wasn't good enough, but all those returning players have had plenty of time to add some additional dimensions to their games. Those in-house improvements can make the difference between a No. 10 offense and a No. 25 one, perhaps.

Mar 21, 2026; Buffalo, NY, USA;Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo speaks with media after the game against the Louisville Cardinals during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Keybank Center. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

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