CBGB: Michigan State Implodes, Texas A&M Surprises

Welcome to the VICE Sports College Basketball Grab Bag, where every week we'll round up the biggest news stories in the sport. Random stuff, too, because it's college basketball. Enjoy!

What is going on with Michigan State?

Once the No. 1 team in the country, Michigan State is spiraling. If anything, the Spartans' fall should have come when star player Denzel Valentine was out for three weeks in late December and early January. MSU was 3-1 during that stretch, but now the Spartans have lost three straight, and four Big Ten games in total; they're in danger of falling out of the Big Ten race altogether.

The losses have all been surprising, each in its own way. Losing to No. 9 Iowa, which is ranked No. 2 in the country by KenPom.com, is no slight, but the Spartans were blown out on their home floor, 76-59.

MSU then lost at Wisconsin, which had limped to a 1-4 Big Ten start. This is not the Wisconsin of old, and the Badgers are in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament, but still, it's difficult to play at the Kohl Center.

Finally, MSU had its worst loss of all: to Nebraska, at home. The Cornhuskers came into that game ranked 90th by KenPom, and they'd lost every Big Ten game they'd played against top 100 opponents. That's an inexcusable loss, and suddenly, Michigan State looks like a team that's reeling, not a national title contender.

The Spartans can still turn this around before March, and they have a history of making deep runs into the NCAA Tournament. But MSU's chances for a conference championship appear to be a pipe dreams now that they are four games (and the tiebreaker) behind Iowa,.

Texas A&M is the SEC's surprise team of the year

As always, Kentucky was the favorite in the SEC entering the season; the Wildcats certainly have the most talent in the league. If anyone was going to challenge Kentucky, it looked like it would be LSU and Ben Simmons, Florida, or Vanderbilt.

However, through six games of conference play, Texas A&M has proved to be the breakout star. The Aggies are 6-0 in the SEC, with impressive wins over Florida, Arkansas, and now LSU. That's on top of non-conference wins against Texas, Baylor, and Gonzaga.

The Aggies have vaulted to a top 10 ranking, and they likely have staying power. Led by four seniors and superstar freshman Tyler Davis, they've beaten top teams convincingly — Baylor by 19, Texas by 11, LSU by 14 — and they rank seventh nationally in KenPom.

It's time to get ready for Texas A&M: Final Four Contender. Who would've thought?

The Big 12 is going to eat itself

Let's look at this group of results and try to make sense of it:

Kansas 109, Oklahoma 106
Iowa State 82, Oklahoma 77,
Oklahoma 70, West Virginia 68
Oklahoma 87, Iowa State 83
West Virginia 74, Kansas 63
Oklahoma State 86, Kansas 67
Texas 56, West Virginia 49
Texas 94, Iowa State 91
TCU 58, Texas 57

The Big 12 is probably the best conference in the country, with so many good teams, but the top four title contenders—Kansas, Iowa State, Oklahoma, and West Virginia—all have at least two losses, in addition to their quality wins.

It's very possible that the Big 12 could have two or three of the best teams in the country, but it won't show up in the rankings because they keep beating themselves. We still have a ton of good matchups between those four teams. It should be an awesome conference season in the Big 12.

Best week: Iowa

Iowa's win over Michigan State at home (without Denzel Valentine), and its 20-point comeback at Purdue were flukes, right? Nope. The Hawkeyes blew out MSU at the Breslin Center and came home to beat Michigan. That vaulted them to No. 9 in the polls and No. 2 in KenPom. There are still difficult games to come (at Maryland, vs. Purdue) but many of this team's toughest games are behind them, and they're 5-0 in the conference.

Worst week: Duke

This could be Michigan State, but Duke's fall has been just as shocking. The Blue Devils have lost three straight: at Clemson, at home to Notre Dame, and at home to Syracuse. Duke should never be losing to Clemson, and the Blue Devils certainly shouldn't be losing at home to this year's Syracuse team, which will struggle even to make the NIT.

Random Ranking

This week, we're ranking the five schools you did not know were schools that are better than Rutgers (No. 277 in KenPom) at basketball.

• Incarnate Word (186 KenPom): The University of the Incarnate Word actually has a Division I basketball team! It lost to something called Our Lady of the Lake this season.
• IUPUI (191): Stands for Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis. Pronounced ooo-eee-poo-eee.
• IPFW (150): Stands for Indiana University—Purdue University Fort Wayne. Pronounced ooo-eee-puff-wuh.
• Fairleigh Dickinson (257): There are eight Division I college basketball teams in New Jersey. Fairleigh Dickinson is ranked seventh. Rutgers is last.
• Grand Canyon University (100): This is a for-profit school that's actually super good at basketball for its size. It's been in Division I for only three years.

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