Michigan State Basketball: Early 2015-16 Outlook

Last season, the Michigan State Spartans did what they do best under Tom Izzo by reaching the Final Four despite receiving a disappointing No. 7 seed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. After an up-and-down season that saw them lose every meaningful non-conference game, the Spartans turned it on in March, only losing to the two teams that faced off in the National Championship, the Duke Blue Devils and Wisconsin Badgers.

Coming into the 2015-16 season, this team will lose two of their most important players, Travis Trice and Branden Dawson. Trice led the team in both points and assists, whereas Dawson led the team in rebounds and blocks. Perhaps the biggest loss from the departure of these two players is not their team leading statistics, but the leadership and clutch ability that Trice showed. There were multiple times that a shot hit by Trice generated the game-changing momentum swing that led the Spartans to victory.

However, all is not lost for the Spartans without Trice and Dawson. Denzel Valentine is one of the most all around talented players in the country, and he will be joined from last season by six players who played in at least 30 of Michigan State’s 2014-15 games as well as several upper tier four-star recruits in Deyonta Davis and Matt McQuaid. With the highly touted transfer from the West Virginia Mountaineers, Eron Harris, indefinitely suspended for a DUI, the depth of this team could be the catalyst from which the Spartans succeed early in the season.

Expect the 2015-16 season to go the same way as the 2014-15 season. Michigan State will lose a few games in non-conference play and will limp into Big 10 play ranked between 15 and 25, but slowly start to get better as the season moves along. Izzo will get this team rolling in late December, and I expect this Spartans’ squad to be right up there with the Maryland Terrapins in the Big 10 standings when the regular season is over.

Taylor Sturm is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.