College Basketball Grab Bag: Bo Ryan Has a Potential Disaster, Michigan State Has Fun

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!

Will Bo Ryan's Victory Lap Be His Worst Season?

Wisconsin has a knack for overachieving; it's what makes Bo Ryan one of the best coaches in college basketball. His Wisconsin teams have never finished worse than fourth in the Big Ten, no matter who they have returning and who they bring in, which is an incredible accomplishment. Even programs like Kentucky have down years. Wisconsin doesn't.

Last year's Badgers team was an unstoppable force. With Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker leaving, this season figured to be a little bit worse. However, things set up well for a good season, with Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig returning, and with talented freshman Ethan Happ coming in. Adding to the intrigue is that Ryan announced his plan to retire, or maybe not retire, after this season. If it is his last year, he certainly has the tools for a fine season.

Ryan might have saved his worst coaching job for last, though. The Badgers are 6-4. The loss to Western Illinois at the beginning of the season looked like an aberration, but after the loss to UW-Milwaukee, things are a bit more concerning.

Wisconsin doesn't lose at the Kohl Center. The Badgers were 214-13 at home under Ryan coming into this game. They hadn't lost to the Panthers in 22 years. Suddenly, a Wisconsin team that has an incredible knack for being predictably solid in games it should win has more bad losses (Western Illinois and UW-Milwaukee) than good wins (Syracuse).

I'm not ready to say the Badgers won't make the NCAA Tournament, because with Ryan coaching, I'd have to see that to believe it. However, there is some danger in that becoming a reality. It wasn't supposed to happen with this roster, but this has the potential to be a disaster of a victory lap for one of the best college basketball coaches of all time.

Michigan State Loves To Share, And That's Why The Spartans Are So Much Fun

Michigan State is the top-ranked team in the country right now, and for good reason: the Spartans are 10-0, including wins over Kansas, Providence, and Louisville. They're good, but what makes this team so much fun is how it plays.

MSU has the best player in the country right now in Denzel Valentine, who is averaging 18.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game, but this is hardly a one-man show. Deyonta Davis, Bryn Forbes, Matt Costello, Javon Bess, Tum Tum Nairn, and Matt McQuaid all have offensive ratings over 110, and they're all involved in the action.

The Spartans have the highest assist rate in the country, with players getting assists on 80 percent (80 percent!) of baskets. The highest assist rate any team has had in the KenPom era, since people started calculating this stat, is 72 percent. It starts with Valentine, who ranks No. 1 in assist rate. That's not something you usually see from the best player in the country.

This team is so in sync that it scored on an alley-oop after an opening tip. The ball didn't even touch the ground!

Check this out: — Brent Yarina (@BTNBrentYarina)December 5, 2015

Playing Michigan State would be bad enough if you just had to worry about Valentine, but you also have to worry about where he's passing. That makes the top-ranked Spartans a nightmare.

A Chance For Parity

College basketball has been dominated by one-and-done players in recent years, with the best high school stars, who should really be in the NBA, going to college basketball's blue bloods. Last year, Kentucky and Duke dominated the headlines, and the Wildcats and Blue Devils each have a championship in the past four years.

This year might be different. Yes, Kentucky, Duke, and Kansas are all very good teams, but we could see some parity on the national level like we haven't seen in awhile. With even Kentucky seeming vulnerable after losing to UCLA and struggling against Illinois State and Eastern Kentucky, all of the blue bloods have a loss, and that gives Iowa State, Purdue, Oklahoma, and Michigan State a chance to take center stage.

While the rankings still like one-loss Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, and North Carolina, the advanced stats seem to think that the underdogs have more staying power. Undefeated Oklahoma and Purdue ranked second and third in KenPom, respectively, with one-loss Virginia No. 1. The only traditional power in the top five is Duke, at No. 4.

This definitely isn't the last we've heard of the traditional powers, and they'll be in the thick of things until the end. For the first time in a few years, however, there's a chance we have a national championship without a Kentucky or Duke.

Best Week: Oklahoma Sooners

I'm fudging the rules a bit, since it's been a little more than a week, but in the past two weeks, Oklahoma has blowout wins over both Wisconsin and Villanova. It's hard enough to beat one of those teams, but to defeat both—by 17 and 23 points, respectively—makes the Sooners look like one of the best teams in the country. You're going to be hearing more from college basketball's Golden State Warriors.

Worst Week: Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Congrats to Rutgers on going 1-1 this week, as there are many weeks this season when they won't win a game. Now that that's out of the way: this week reinforced just how bad this Scarlet Knights team is. They rank 250th in KenPom, which is almost impossibly bad for a power conference team, and only had a three-point lead on winless Central Connecticut, which ranks 348th, at halftime. Before that, they lost by 29 to Seton Hall. It's going to be another long season in Piscataway.

Random Ranking

Every week we'll do a different ranking of something related to college basketball. This week, it's the top five player of the year candidates.

• Denzel Valentine, Michigan State: Valentine is an outstanding scorer, defender, rebounder, and passer, and he's at his best against the best teams. He's the runaway favorite right now.
• Ben Simmons, LSU: His team is bad, but he's really good!
• Buddy Hield, Oklahoma: Hield has been the best player in the Big 12 so far, leading the Sooners' fast-paced offense and aggressive defense.
• Kris Dunn, Providence: Dunn was a sleeper to win player of the year coming into the season, and his athletic play on both ends of the floor has him in contention.
• Grayson Allen, Duke: He looks exactly like Ted Cruz, and since he plays for Duke, you probably hate him just as much. Like Cruz, he'll be relevant in the race but probably won't have enough to win it all.

And Finally, The VICE Sports Tom Crean Photo of the Week

You're welcome.