College basketball countdown: No. 3 Michigan State

Jack Ebling, Sporting News Yearbook Michigan State looks to be headed to another Final Four appearance. It was hard to imagine a better script. A No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament beats the defending champ, then rips the No. 1 seed in the Midwest to get to play 90 minutes from campus -- in an area decimated by economic forces. Finally, the Michigan State Spartans pound another No. 1 to advance to Monday night's coronation. Oops. Can we stop there or at least freeze time at the opening tip of the title game? Even after the season's second North Carolina-Michigan State mismatch at Ford Field, Tom Izzo's Spartans had a memory book of massive proportions. A 31-7 season was the program's third winningest. But gone are two key seniors -- NBA second-rounder Goran Suton, the conference's top rebounder at 8.4 per game, and Travis Walton, the league's defensive player of the year. Both will be missed for more than their combined ... (link)