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Michigan State has enough basketball material to be viewed as a popular choice to be the No. 1 team in the country for the outset of the 2019-20 season.

CBS, NBC, Sports Illustrated and Andy Katz are among those who have ranked No. 1 in the nation at some point in recent weeks.

But that doesn’t mean Tom Izzo’s squad is without question marks.

Chief among them, Izzo said during Big Ten Basketball Media Day in Chicago on Wednesday, is determining and developing solid players at the power forward position.

“One of the big things is who comes along at the four spot?” Izzo said. “Which guy, between Marcus Bingham, Thomas Kithier? We could go smaller with Gabe Brown. We could go with one of our two freshmen.”

Of the freshmen, Malik Hall is the most natural choice as a stretch four. Julius Marble is more of a rebounder and banger, but his face-up shooting isn’t bad.

“Malik and Julius, those two guys are going to play,” Izzo said. “They are two guys that are rugged, strong. One has a little better offensive skills (Hall). One is a little better rebounder (Marble). I like the numbers. We are a deeper team.”

Kithier (6-8, Soph., Clarkston, Mich.) averaged 5.8 minutes, 1.6 points and 1.3 rebounds per game last year. Bingham (6-11, Soph., Grand Rapids) averaged 3.5 minutes, 1.0 points and 1.1 rebounds.

“Now, does Bingham come on? He gained 20 pounds but he got sick and lost five," Izzo said.

Every ounce of strength is important for Bingham, who doesn’t have a lot of it - but he has crazy length and a good face-up shooting stroke from deep.

In the meantime, Kithier is a guy who does a lot of things well without the ball. He is trustworthy, and improving.

“He had a big summer, learning his spots, knowing how to get his shot off and knowing how to help his teammates out,” said senior point guard Cassius Winston. “He’s going to be really big for us this year.”

Brown averaged 7.9 minutes and 2.3 points per game last year as an excitable wing runner and streak shooter. He has added a lot of bulk to his frame. His ability to shoot could stretch the floor, if he can handle the mental load of playing the wing and the interior, two completely different roles, offensively and defensively. Can he rebound and bang like a four? Those are some of the questions Izzo is researching this fall.

All of the power forward candidates are vying to replace Kenny Goins, a former walk-on who became a hero for last year’s Final Four and Big Ten Championship team. Center Nick Ward and shooter/stopper Matt McQuaid need to be replaced as well.

Meanwhile, Langford is trying to come back from a mysterious lower body injury which ended his junior season after 13 games.

“Right now, we’ve got some questions,” Izzo said. “Josh is coming off being out for seven months. And we did lose 30 points and 15 rebounds with Kenny, Nick and Matt McQuaid. We have some question marks but we’ve got a good team and we’ve got strength on the perimeter. We need to find a four man that we’re going to use and if we do that then a really good team could be an elite team.”

Winston missed practice time in recent days with a hamstring injury. He described the ailment as a freak incident which occurred during a training session.

Ironically, Winston went to great lengths to preserve and strengthen his lower body during the off-season.

Winston battled through knee pain last season while the Spartans were closing out a share of the Big Ten regular season championship, and then slugged their way to the Big Ten Tournament championship, and then an NCAA Tournament Regional Championship en route to the 10th Final Four in school history. Winston played through pain all the way.

“I was definitely tired at the end of last year,” he said. “I promised myself that this year I won’t feel that fatigue. This summer I made it one of my goals to become stronger. I did a lot of conditioning, a lot of stretching, taking care of my body, my lower body strength. I’m going to push it all the way through and be okay.”

Izzo isn’t thrilled about preseason practice starting three weeks earlier than was the case a few years ago. He enjoys working the younger players, getting them acclimated to the program. But he has been careful about asking veteran players to do too much, especially someone like Winston, whom the coach hopes to ride all the way to April.

Izzo wants to conserve Winston’s wheels, while also stressing the importance of hard work. Izzo has met with Winston during the early portions of the practice season to re-instill that philosophy, knowing that Winston - who has improved as a vocal leader - will pass the message to his teammates through words and actions.

“Number one is: Do we stay humble?” Winston said, repeating Izzo’s teachings. “Do we work the same way? It’s easy to say that but it’s hard to do it when everyone is throwing all these accolades at you.

“You just have to remember all the things that got us to this point, all the hard work, all the time, the mindset that we had of being the underdog and working to get to this point,” Winston said. “If you keep that same mentality, it gives you a better chance to have success.”

Izzo, 64, is the sixth-longest tenured head coach in college basketball, trailing Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim (44 years), Duke’s Mike Kryzewski (40 years), Oakland University’s Greg Kampe (36 years), Davidson’s Bob McKillop (31 years) and Houston Baptist’s Ron Cottrell (28 years).

Izzo is entering his 25th season at Michigan State.

With that type of mileage on his odometer, Izzo is asked each year when he thinks he might feel he has had enough. On Wednesday, he said that time isn’t coming soon.

“I don’t even want to talk about it because I don’t plan on being done any time soon,” he said. “It’s been good. It really has been good. For the most part, as long as I enjoy what I’m doing - I get to work early in the morning, still go to all my football games, keep recruiting good kids - I don’t plan on leaving. I like where I’m at right now.”

He says he’ll know he’s had enough when the labors of the recruiting trail start to get to him. His fuel tank isn’t low.

“(It’s a question of) Whether I have the energy and enthusiasm to take the red eye flights from Vegas, whether I enjoy the grind,” he said, “and I don’t see that going at all right now.”

For the second straight year, Michigan State will play Gonzaga in a preseason scrimmage. The Spartans and Zags will meet on Oct. 19 in Denver. The scrimmage is not open to the public.

Michigan State will play an exhibition game on Oct. 29 against Albion at Breslin Center, and open the season on Nov. 5 against Kentucky in the Champions Classic in New York City.

Langford was averaging a career-high 15 points per game last year when he went down with the injury.

“Things are going well in practice,” Langford said, “just taking it one day at a time, taking it slow, not trying to rush myself, just being patient in the process and understanding that it is going to take time and by the grace of God I will be able to be back to where I was before.”

Izzo is preaching patience as well.

“He has really made some great strides,” Izzo said. “You think having seven months off and now in just about every practice he is doing more and more live stuff.

“I’m hoping by the time we get into December and Big Ten play he’s at full strength and back to normal.”

If Langford regains his old form, it could give Izzo one of the best backcourts he’s ever had, with Winston and rising sophomore Aaron Henry.

“He (Langford) brings an element to the game that we haven’t had and that’s as a two-way player that can score it, can run and can defend,” Izzo said. “You need two-way players and we think Josh is one of the best we’ve had and yet we have to be patient with him too. It’s not going to all come back in three weeks or a month or a month and a half.”

Don’t sleep on senior Kyle Ahrens. He went down with an ankle injury during MSU’s victory over Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game. He averaged 18 minutes and 4.7 points per game while shooting 29 percent from 3-point range.

He is capable of shooting better than that from the perimeter, and that might be needed while Langford works to get back into form.

“Through the summer and fall, Kyle has been very, very good,” Izzo said. “He has his athleticism back, he can really shoot the ball.”

As for Henry, look for him to be one of the most improved players in the Big Ten, and the country. He was a starter and a strong role player last year, but his ceiling of potential is enormous.

“He’s doing a better job knocking down his spot-up shots, putting the ball on the floor, making reads,” Winston said of Henry. “Instead of being a role player, he is going to be a go-to player. He’s so strong and physically gifted, he can get to the basket and make plays there.”

As for short-term points of emphasis, Izzo said: “Cassius, keep working on his defense. For Josh, it’s getting healthy. For those other guys, it’s stepping up at the next level. Is Aaron going to step up? Is Gabe going to step up? And I think Xavier Tillman has had a good summer and has spent time getting with his shot. He has to get better at his back to the basket moves now because we don’t have Nick Ward.”

Freshman guard Mark “Rocket” Watts has been one of the most pleasant surprises of preseason practice. Coaches expected him to be a bright spot, but not this bright.

“Rocket has been good for us,” Izzo said. “He has really made some improvements. (He is a) Very good Passer. A lot better passer than I maybe thought he would be. He has a great first step. He has as good a fist step as you need.”

Watts can play wing guard or point guard. He will compete with Foster Loyer for the back-up point guard spot, behind Winston.

Watts was ranked the No. 38 player in the country last year by Rivals.com.

With Watts and 2020 commitment Jalen Terry (Flint Beecher) entrenched, plus Loyer, MSU’s ball handling and scoring is in good hands for the near future. Michigan State could round out the future of its backcourt this weekend if A.J. Hoggard picks Michigan State over Marquette and Florida. The 6-foot-2 Hoggard plans to decide on Sunday. Hoggard, of Huntington (WVa.) Prep, is ranked the No. 71 player in the country by Rivals.com.

SpartanMag.com favors Michigan State to land Hoggard.