I, for one, much preferred that nice, clean ending featured in the 2009 Big Ten basketball season. Mr. Gasaway on MSU's prospects among the five contenders for the conference title: "For my money Izzo's team is the most interesting member of the Gang of Five in this strange new era. Lucas is hobbled and the Spartans are putatively "reeling," but at the end of the day they're still tied for first and they still have perhaps the easiest remaining schedule of any contender. (Put it this way. One in every three remaining Michigan State games will be played against Penn State.) If MSU can just avoid freaking out unnecessarily and pick up a couple road wins at Happy Valley (Saturday) and Indiana (Tuesday), they'll be in good shape to win this thing, possibly even outright." Good to hear a neutral observer (one who know a little something about Big Ten basketball, no less) conclude much the same thing we did last night.