Big Ten regular season title?

Cemented.

One final regular season opportunity with nothing to worry about but beating your rival and trying to maybe get onto the 1-seed line. This should still be possible: beat Michigan and win the Big Ten Tournament. If Florida loses to Mississippi and/or gets knocked out in the SEC tournament early on, then the committee would probably give the final 1-seed to the winner of the second best conference in the nation.

More importantly, consider what this team has become: a true champion, with a clear and definite identity, and a clear path to a deep tournament run.

Very few people thought this was possible before the season began. In fact, Michigan State was picked 7th in the conference and was unranked in pre-season polls.

The biggest question marks coming into the season were about the frontcourt and the lack of a ‘go-to’ scorer. The frontcourt has proved itself a bona fide force — Jaxon Kohler turned himself into a consistent double-double threat, a rebounding machine, and has begun to extend his range to the three-point line.

Carson Cooper has become a dynamic defender in the pick-and-roll, a solid lob-threat, and a great energy guy off the bench.

Szymon Zapala has been a solid, big body, ready to play with physicality, finish at the rim, and contend with opposing teams’ biggest players.

Xavier Booker has shown even more glimpses than he did as a freshman — his offensive game has expanded, his defense and rebounding have taken a step forward and - while his role and minutes remain limited due to his inconsistent execution on the defensive end, on the glass, and on offense - he remains a clearly potent X-factor who can turn the tide of a game (as he did vs UNC).

The go-to scorer question has been answered in a far more diverse and interesting fashion: Jaden Akins remains one of the de facto high-volume scorers on the team, and despite his inconsistent shooting, Akins really has become a crucial scorer for the team despite somewhat lowered shooting efficiency. In conference play, he has shot 33% from three-point range, continued to get to the line and finish free-throws at a solid rate, and, most importantly, he has not shied away from bad starts to games. It is imperative that he stays aggressive and plays the role of major scoring threat because this forces the defense to react to him. His mental toughness to stay aggressive despite missing shots has paid off in a big way in wins against Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Purdue, and Oregon.

In addition to Akins, Jase Richardson has clarified to the world that he is a major talent, and has justified the whispers of NBA teams’ interest in him as a prospect. He is a future NBA player - maybe not this coming season, but certainly within a year or two - and his ball-handling, poise, three-point shooting (when shooting off of the catch as a spot-up shooter, primarily), and touch and finishing in the paint, especially, have carried the team’s offense in multiple games down the stretch of conference play—as evidenced by his big scoring games against Rutgers, Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Wisconsin (in the second half), and Iowa. Richardson has found his stride and, remarkably, simply is not forcing things.