However, Sparty would never live up to that billing through a combination of injuries, players getting booted off the team (Chris Allen, Korie Lucious) or just mediocre play at times. Michigan State finished just 19-15 overall and 9-9 in the Big Ten. And Tom Izzo’s club had a short stay in the NCAA Tournament, losing its first game to UCLA. Izzo was later call it his most trying year with the program. The Spartans’ 15 losses were their most in a season since a 16-16 finish in 1995-96, Izzo’s first campaign. The losses also equaled Michigan State's total from their previous two seasons combined.

Expectations aren’t quite as high this season, but that’s not to say there aren’t any. The Spartans (28/1 on Bodog’s NCAA basketball futures odds to win the national title) certainly will miss point guard Kalin Lucas, one of the school’s best-ever players. Sparty was expecting three starters back in Draymond Green, Keith Appling and Delvon Roe. Green is one of the most versatile big men in the country, while Appling looks like the next MSU star and will take over for Lucas at the point.

However, the Spartans got terrible news in late September when Roe ended his college basketball career because of degenerative knee pain. He had surgeries on both knees since his high school career ended and suffered a setback a week before his Sept. 29 announcement. Despite the injuries, Roe has never missed a game in his three-year college career and averaged 6.0 points and 5.1 rebounds in 109 games. But certainly those knees kept Roe from being the superstar many predicted coming out of high school when he was one of the nation’s top recruits.

MSU’s two biggest additions will be Top-25 recruit Branden Dawson, a 6-foot-6 McDonald’s All-American small forward. And Sparty welcomes a terrific transfer in former Valparaiso player Brandon Wood, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard. As the Crusaders' leading scorer in 2010-11 (16.7 ppg), Wood should be a big weapon, particularly from deep (36.8 3-point percentage over the past two seasons).

As usual, Izzo has made MSU’s schedule as hard as possible. The Spartans open their season against national title favorite North Carolina on the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego on Friday, four days before battling Duke in Madison Square Garden. They also play 2010-11 NCAA Tournament teams Florida State and Gonzaga before the Big Ten schedule hits.

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