Sharp's Premature Burial Of MSU Returns Us Back To Normal: 180 Degrees Apart

I must have been terribly busy this weekend. I'm clearly uninformed, so for that I apologize. I'm usually more on top of things in the sports world -- so how in the world did I miss the news that Michigan State had been eliminated from the NCAA tournament before it even started? I'm embarrassed to come before you as your faithful blogger with this admission.

Unless I'm mistaken -- which I hope I am.

The Free Press's Drew Sharp didn't take long to wander 180 degrees away from me again -- his usual proximity from me. Drew and I were briefly (sorta) together last week, bemoaning the Red Wings' lack of action at the trading deadline. But now we're at our more customary positions -- one that I share with a bunch of other readers and writers in being opposite of Mr. Sharp.

Sharp, in this morning's Freep, is almost done pouring dirt over the Spartans' casket, without the bother of checking for a pulse. He writes that the Spartans, I guess because they didn't win the Big Ten title, might as well pack their equipment bags, wish the seniors well and look ahead to 2008-09. For there is nothing left to play for this month -- the month of Madness.

To wit:

"But all the Spartans' flirtation with Mexican cuisine did Sunday was exacerbate the collective heartburn of a season that currently ranks as a stunning underachievement.

Their offensive output showed what these Spartans could be, but it doesn't change what they are right now -- a big disappointment nationally.

They scored 103 points against Indiana, but there remain almost as many questions as to why the Spartans' personality deviates so radically between games."

A stunning underachievement? A big disappointment nationally? It's a Top 25 program that lost some tough road games, yet took care of business at home, going undefeated. And there aren't any road games, per se, in the tournament. Everyone, in theory, is in the same boat in that regard.

Oh that's right -- the Spartans have been eliminated from the post-season.

Sharp has the scoop; MSU is going to be on the sidelines, without hope. For you cannot win the Final Four if you're not even invited in the door.

Ahh, but upon reading further, we have coach Tom Izzo to set everyone straight.

"I think a few of our guys had their dreams shattered when we had an opportunity to win the league and didn't," he said. "But it's really a mark of some special guys to get back up. It's March. March is a great time around Michigan State, and we're going to try to make it a special month if we keep playing well."

Whew! The Spartans are still alive after all!

Winning league titles are nice. Winning a tough road game along the way would be even nicer. Finishing in the Top Ten would have been awesome. None of that happened. But that hardly means the Spartans are underachieving disappointments. Now, if they get bumped out of the tourney in the first round (which they've done), that's another story. And just because the Spartans have shown a maddening occasion to let something special slip through their grasp, it's foolish to dismiss their March chances.

Or has Sharp forgotten about Villanova in 1985, or North Carolina State in 1983?

College basketball is like the NHL that way. It's not how you finish ... the regular season, but how you do in the school of bracketology.

Besides, how can ending the season by beating a fellow Top 25 school by nearly 30 points -- albeit at home -- be disappointing? Tournament champs have gone into the post-season with much less momentum, that's for sure.