Rankings through January 4 (Last week’s rank in parentheses)

1. Michigan State 2-0 (2)
2. Wisconsin 2-0 (6)
3. Purdue 0-1 (1)
4. Michigan 1-1 (3)
5. Illinois 1-1 (7)
6. Minnesota 1-1 (5)
7. Ohio State 1-1 (4)
8. Penn State 1-1 (9)
9. Iowa 1-1 (10)
10. Northwestern 0-2 (8)
11. Indiana 0-1 (11)

Players of the week

Sophomore forward Mike Davis came up big for Illinois during their upset of Purdue with a late bucket that forced overtime and some key blocks and rebounds.

Trevon Hughes scored 16 points for Wisconsin in a win at Michigan, including 10 straight points that put the game away early in the 2nd half. The junior guard followed that with only 10 points against Penn State, but he hit a late triple that broke a tie and gave the Badgers the lead for good.

Speedy sophomore Kalin Lucas was golden for Michigan State during road wins against Minnesota and Northwestern, scoring a combined 41 points while dishing out 11 assists.

Previous Power Polls

• Preseason

Of course, it helps when no other Big 10 team has stood out in early conference play; Purdue lost at home to Illinois, and Michigan suffered the same fate against Wisconsin. It’s a sign that the Big 10 may be wide open for anyone to claim, and the team playing the best basketball right now may be Michigan State.

Also playing terrific basketball is Illinois. The Illini are 13-1 (a 2-point loss to Clemson) and now have a nice road win against Purdue in their pocket. With a balanced lineup including a tough senior point guard in Chester Frazier, Illinois is shaping up as an NCAA Tournament team and perhaps even a contender for the Big 10 title.

Like the Spartans, Wisconsin is 2-0 in the Big 10 with wins at Illinois and at home against Penn State. An annual conference stalwart, the Badgers were not expected to make a big splash with a weaker than usual squad; however, it is clear that they are not ready to roll over for anyone.

Certainly, it is too early in the Big 10 schedule to guess how it will shake out, but if the first few games mean anything then it will be very interesting season to watch.

Offensive MVP: Javon Ringer (senior)

Ringer’s 1637 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground make him an easy choice for offensive MVP.

Defensive MVP: Greg Jones (senior)

Several players on the defensive side had great seasons, but Jones’ 127 tackles (14 for a loss) and 2 sacks provided a steady presence in the middle of the field for Michigan State.

Honorable mention: Otis Wiley (senior)

Best Freshman: BJ Cunningham, WR

Cunningham is a redshirt freshman who would have played in 2007 had Devin Thomas not broken out as a playmaker. Getting his first chance to make an impression, Cunningham made his skill very apparent (41 catches for 528 yards) and raises expectations for 2009’s post-Ringer offense.

Michigan State wasn’t blown out, but they struggled when it counted: In Georgia territory, and on 3rd down. The Spartans had the ball in Bulldog territory several times in the 1st half, but came away with just 2 Brett Swenson field goals and led 6-3 at halftime. MSU drives stalled out on 3rd down- Michigan State converted just 4 of 16 attempts for 1st downs.

3rd down efficiency is a strong predictor of success. 6 sacks by the Georgia defense contributed to long 3rd down situations and a very poor conversion rate (the aforementioned 4 of 16). If you can’t sustain drives you won’t score many points.

1. Purdue 11-2
2. Michigan State 9-2
3. Michigan 10-2
4. Ohio State 9-1
5. Minnesota 12-0
6. Wisconsin 9-3
7. Illinois 12-1
8. Northwestern 8-2
9. Penn State 11-2
10. Iowa 10-3
11. Indiana 5-7

New power polls will be published every Sunday throughout the Big 10 season.

Preseason All-conference Team

• Kalin Lucas, Michigan State
• Manny Harris, Michigan
• Evan Turner, Ohio State
• Robbie Hummel, Purdue
• DeShawn Sims, Michigan

Preseason MVP: Manny Harris (Michigan)

Bringing the Paul Bunyan trophy back to East Lansing

Michigan State beat Michigan for the first time since 2001 and was yet another great sign that the Mark Dantonio era is on the right track. Trailing 21-14 in the 2nd half, the Spartans stormed back to win 35-21.

Men’s basketball advances to the Sweet 16

The Spartans knocked off #4 seed Pittsburgh to advance to the Sweet 16. Though they were massacred by Memphis a few days later, a trip to the 2nd weekend meant a lot for the 2007-08 squad.

Drew Neitzel kisses the ‘S’

Senior day at the Breslin Center was an emotional one. The game was never in doubt (MSU beat Indiana 103-74), but fans stayed to watch the seniors bid adieu to their Spartan careers. Here’s a video of Drew Neitzel kissing the ‘S’.

Swenson’s field goal caps comeback against Wisky

After knocking the Michigan monkey off the program’s back, Mark Dantonio was determined to end another  trend- late-season slides. Fans have seen many recent teams start the year strong and then limp to the finish line. Trailing Wisconsin 24-13 in the 4th quarter, Michigan State rallied to make it 24-22 with 12 seconds left. Brett Swenson hammered home a 44-yard field goal attempt to give his team the lead and another big win.

Adam Decker stuffs Shonn Greene

Facing a 4th-and-1 late in the game and trailing by just 3 points, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz elected to hand the ball off to his star tailback instead of attempting a tying field goal. The decision made a lot of sense- Greene had torn up Michigan State’s defense for 150+ yards and the Hawkeyes had momentum on their side. So when Greene took the ball and headed for the left side of the line, he was probably surprised to see linebacker Adam Decker there waiting for him. Decker completed the tackle for a 2-yard loss and sent Iowa packing. Video in ESPN game recap.

Men’s soccer wins a Big Ten title

Michigan State’s men’s soccer team won its first regular-season title in school history with a 1-0 win over Northwestern.

Men’s basketball beats #5 Texas

Sophomore guard Durrell Summers hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to put MSU ahead, and the Spartans held on to capture their first resume victory in the 2008-09 season.

Entering the Top 25 for the first time this season are Minnesota (#23) and Michigan (#24).

The latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ poll is less enthusiastic-Michigan State moved up to #18 from #22.

Eastern Michigan announced that they are hiring former U-M defensive coordinator Ron English to take over one of the worst programs in the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision).  Dan Enos, a prinicpal recruiter underneath Dantonio, was rumored to be a finalist for that position.

Miami University (Ohio) may be set to announce they they are hiring Curt Mallory, who is currently a co-defensive coordinator at Illinois. Mallory’s name had been mentioned for several jobs, including Iowa State and Eastern Michigan, and it now sounds like he will land at Miami. This means that Michigan State offensive coordinator Don Treadwell will not be leaving Dantonio’s program (at least not for Miami).

It is often said that the departure of top assistants for head coaching jobs is a sign of a healthy and successful program. While it is nice that Enos and Treadwell will be back for the 2009 season (for now, at least), it’s somewhat disheartening to know that they were not offered other jobs; however, it is entirely possible that they turned down formal offers.

Key to MSU’s win was how well they defended Texas guard A.J. Abrams.

“Every time I did catch the ball, if I did catch the ball, I was kind of out of position,” said Abrams, who came in shooting 47 percent from 3-point range. “They just did a good job on me. Looking back on it, if I could do something different, I might kind of slow down a little bit.”

Abrams came into Saturday having scored 28 points per game in his previous 4 outings. Against the Spartans, Abrams managed just 8 points and for the first time this season he failed to make a 3-point shot (0-for-4).

A performance like this raises expectations for the upcoming Big 10 schedule. If Michigan State can shut down A.J. Abrams, they should be able to do the same with marquee players on other teams. If they can get up and play tough basketball on the road, there’s hope they can bring the same intensity and tenacity when they head to Illinois and Purdue.

Players of the game: Goran Suton (18 points), Durrell Summers (14 points)

During an ESPN program called Bowl Mania, former Florida quarterback Jesse Palmer proclaimed Georgia over MSU an absolute certainty. 

Palmer said the Bulldogs will defeat the Spartans handily.

CollegeFootballNews.com essentially agrees with Palmer. In CFN’s staff confidence picks, a Georgia win has the third-highest confidence backing among all bowls. If you ignore Clucko’s “opinion” (CFN draws one prediction out of a hat to represent the element of chance), then the game slides up to #2.

Meanwhile, Vegas thinks that the Bulldogs will win, but not in resounding fashion; the Spartans are 7.5 point underdogs, a spread exceeded by 7 other bowl games.

No matter who you listen to, the message is clear-very few people outside of East Lansing have hope of a Michigan State victory in Orlando. It may be the same audience that believes the Spartans could hang with Boston College in the Champs Sports Bowl last year.

Wait, what? Didn’t the Spartans narrowly lose their last bowl appearance, 24-21? Doesn’t MSU have a long history of being the underdog, only to put together strong performances every now and then? Yup, and the theme is not lost on Brian Hoyer.

“My whole career here, Michigan State’s always been the underdog,” quarterback Brian Hoyer said. “It’s all good and fine — they’ve gotta have something to talk about on ESPN or wherever they’re doing it. I’m sure on paper it probably looks that way. They’re a preseason No. 1 team, and we were probably ranked in the 50s in the preseason.”

Hoyer and the rest of the team are used to being underdogs. They know that Georgia is a good team, and they probably expected the commentary being spouted by football analysts. It’s not going to rattle Michigan State. They’ll get some more preparation in this week, take a break for Christmas, and then head to Orlando to get settled in.