Spartans dial up their red alert

EAST LANSING - Wisconsin's Kohl Center is the least welcoming, most irritating building in the Big Ten for Michigan State, and not just because the Spartans haven't won there since 2001.

"They don't like coach Izzo too much," said MSU senior forward Raymar Morgan, recalling some of the venomous insults directed at Tom Izzo from Badgers fans including the "Grateful Red" student section.

"Midget," Morgan said. "Angry midget. The whole nine."

The pitch may be a bit louder, the tongues a bit sharper, tonight. No. 16 Wisconsin's hopes of staying in the Big Ten race - and the Big Ten's hopes of a race existing - rest on the Badgers beating No. 5 MSU for a seventh straight time in Madison.

At the halfway point, the Spartans are the clear favorites to repeat as outright champs with a three-game lead and 9-0 record. It's the best league start in school history and the best Big Ten start since the great Illinois team of 2005 won its first 15 conference games.

MSU can lose tonight, lose Saturday at Illinois, lose at Purdue and take care of the rest of the schedule - Penn State twice, at Indiana, home games with Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan - and be assured of at least a share of the championship.

Of course, that's a dangerous way to think for the Spartans. It's not like Purdue and Ohio State can't win at Breslin Center. It's not like trips to Penn State and Indiana will be freebies.

"For real," junior guard Chris Allen said, "when you get big-headed, that's when everything bad starts happening."

There's another way to look at the rest of the race. MSU has more games against the rest of the contenders than anyone else in contention.

Wisconsin, Purdue, Ohio State and Illinois sit in a four-way tie for second at 6-3. Illinois' record is deceiving, though, with a soft first half of the schedule and brutal second half.

Illinois isn't playing like a contender and probably won't be one with six games left against MSU, Wisconsin, Purdue and Ohio State.

Those four appear to be the upper tier - and the only teams, at this point, with safe NCAA Tournament aspirations.

MSU has played one game against the other three, beating the Badgers at home on Jan. 6. The Spartans have four such games left, starting tonight.

"It's going to be a very tough road for us," Izzo said, "but one I think our players are really excited about."

The big break for MSU is the fact that it doesn't have to play at Ohio State this season. The Spartans have endured some well-chronicled jabs over the years from the Big Ten's schedule-making computer, but Izzo should send it a new dust cover for this season's favor.

Ohio State has played three games against contenders so far, splitting with Wisconsin and winning at Purdue. The Buckeyes have two left, at MSU and home vs. Purdue.

Purdue also has played three so far, splitting with Wisconsin and fumbling away the home game to Ohio State. Purdue has three left, the visit to Columbus and the pair with MSU.

As for Wisconsin, tonight is it. The Badgers have already played five games against the other three teams, going 2-3.

A win tonight and Bo Ryan's team will have a chance to make a late-season push - in a race that may be more authentic than the numbers make it seem right now.

"Now we've got to worry about a couple things, dealing with the pressure of being 9-0 ... and then if we do stumble, figuring out how to handle that," Izzo said. "Those are things that go through a coach's mind now. You don't want to think negative, you don't want to be over positive."