MSU basketball is highly-ranked in 2026 Torvik projections
Michigan State basketball is projected as one of the top 12 teams for next season, according to one of the leading analytics rankings systems.
The Torvik 2026 projected top 30 was released on Friday, with Michigan State landing near the top of the country. Michigan State came in at No. 12 nationally in the projected top 30 rankings from Torvik.
Torvik Ratings are one of the most popular analytics used by college basketball enthusiasts. Similar to KenPom, Torvik rankings will typically give you a more analytical look at the top teams in the country.
Of Big Ten teams, Michigan State ranked as the fourth highest team. Only Purdue (No. 2), Michigan (No. 5) and UCLA (No. 7) were ahead of the Spartans in the rankings. Behind Michigan State from the Big Ten was Ohio State (No. 19), Illinois (No. 20), USC (No. 21), Wisconsin (No. 25) and Iowa (No. 30).
Check out the complete rankings from Torvik in the post below:
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
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an hour ago
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INDIANAPOLIS -- Slick Leonard, the late, legendary Indiana Pacers coach and announcer, liked to tell a story that "back in the day, when the Pacers were the only pro sports team in the city and played at the State Fair Coliseum, injuries were few and far between." "But where they built the RCA Dome, Lucas Oil Stadium, Market Square Arena, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, he heard it was ancient buried Indian grounds, and he wondered if we upset the spirits (which caused) all the injuries," said Eddie White, host of the Pacers' postgame show who heard Leonard tell that tale many years ago. "He was half joking." Many fans in Indy feel a lot like Leonard, maybe not the Indian burial grounds part, but that the city's star pro athletes are ridden with serious injuries at a much higher rate than the rest of the country. "We have to find this damn black cat," Coach RJ Jankovic posted on X Aug. 12. "I been saying it for years." "It's been mostly hell for Indy ever since Peyton Manning," Zack Hicks, lead Colts analyst on posted to X this month. "Even the smallest bright spots end in tragedy." "Well, Hali going down in Game 7 and Paul George's injury in the Olympics both felt like a Pacers curse to me," said Andy DeNardo, responding to an IndyStar Facebook post on the topic. "Call it the Malice at the Palace curse which was perhaps the year the Pacers were destined. Colts? I'm not sure. Mostly bad luck, so to speak." Still, other fans believe Indy is no different than any other city that has an NFL, NBA and WNBA team playing in town. "I honestly think it is normal. It certainly means a lot more to us because they are our guys," Shawn Martin responded to the IndyStar post. "But, especially in football, injuries are really inevitable." "I don't believe we are cursed. However, we've certainly had more than our share of bad 'luck' in recent years with injuries, especially to our star/superstar players," wrote Tim McCord. "Injuries happen in sports." "No curse," wrote Joanna Lee. "There are several things that factor in. DNA, heredity, diet, training and how you play, but you can't control other things that athletes do in competition and practice." While Indy does have a long list of star athlete injuries dating back nearly 40 years, the latest round has been especially devastating. First, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles tendon at the beginning of Game 7 of the NBA playoffs, which is expected to keep him out for the entire 2025-26 season. Then Fever star Caitlin Clark suffered a groin injury July 15, her fourth separate muscle injury of the season, which has kept her from practicing or playing for more than a month. Three other Fever guards -- Sophie Cunningham, Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson -- have been lost for the season. Add Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson who has a history of injuries, including an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder in 2023 which required season-ending surgery. Most recently, during the team's pre-season opener, Richardson left the game with a dislocated pinky finger. While he is back on the field, the Colts announced this week that Daniel Jones would be their starting quarterback. What is happening with Indy's star pro athletes today seems to be par for the course in a long line of injuries dating back to 1987. That's when Pacers star Clark Kellogg was forced to cut his NBA career short at the age of 26 after enduring chronic knee problems that allowed him to play only three full seasons of the five he was with the Pacers. As for the Colts in the early days, there was Steve Emtman, who ranks No. 8 on the list of the 50 most injury-prone athletes of all time, according to Bleacher Report. Emtman was the No. 1 pick in the 1992 NFL Draft by the Colts, but he suffered a blown-out left knee nine games into his rookie season. Then at the start of the 1993 season, Emtman endured a season-ending right knee injury. He played in just 18 games from 1992 to 1994 due to injuries, including a ruptured disc in his neck. Since then, the city has had its share of serious injuries: Colts quarterback Peyton Manning's neck, Pacers star Paul George's snapped leg, Colts' Andrew Luck's lacerated kidney, damaged shoulder and career-ending calf injury, Pacers' Victor Oladipo's ruptured quad tendon in his right knee, to name a few. Which begs the question: Is Indy really battling more injuries than other pro sports teams? Or does it just feel that way? "It's a real combination of factors" that contribute to the injuries among Indy athletes and the way fans absorb and feel about those injuries, said Daniel McQuiston, an expert in sports culture and marketing and professor Emeritus at Butler University. First, fans are in an information-heavy culture with social media providing constant updates on news, sports and injuries. That makes sports fans hyper aware, said McQuiston, which may make them feel like Indy's athletes are more injured than others. There are also the factors that have contributed to the injuries. McQuiston points to the current culture of youth sports with kids specializing in one sport and playing it year round. "Back when I was a high school swimmer, you would start your season about October, and then you'd go through March, and it was done," he said. "Then, we got a new coach the summer between my junior and senior years and he says, 'Hey, we're going to swim during the summer.' I said, 'Say what?' "But now, that's just what kids do." That trend of AAU and travel ball exploded around the time today's young pro athletes like Haliburton, Richardson and Clark were kids. "This year-round training, they never get a break. They don't have rest periods," said McQuiston. "This is what you've got, and that leads to fatigue and when you're fatigued, you get injured." The NBA recently reported injuries were up 13% during the 2024-25 season in terms of games missed by players. The league also said in June that it is using artificial intelligence and has convened a panel of sports medicine experts to study the uptick of Achilles tears happening in the NBA. Before Haliburton, six other players in the league had suffered Achilles tears during the season -- Pacers centers James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson, New Orleans guard Dejounte Murray and Miami guard Dru Smith (an Evansville native) in the regular season. Boston's Jayson Tatum and Milwaukee's Damian Lillard were injured in the playoffs. "So, we had seven this year. We had zero last year under the exact same circumstances, and the most we've ever had (previously) in a season is four," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in an ESPN interview before the NBA Draft in June. "The NFL has had a rash of Achilles issues as well. So the purpose of convening those experts is to try to figure out what's going on." There are sites that track injuries of pro athletes, but those statistics don't break down the teams with the most serious injuries or what teams have had the most injuries to star players. And that is where Indy has felt the most hurt, injuries to its star players. It was the 1992 NFL Draft night and the higher-ups at the Colts complex on West 56th Street "were acting like little kids heading for the circus: happy, wide-eyed and eager," wrote IndyStar sports columnist Robin Miller. They had landed Steve Emtman for the No. 1 pick in the 1992 NFL Draft, a 290-pound beast of a defensive tackle out of the University of Washington where he was a unanimous All-American and considered the best overall player on the 1991 undefeated national championship team, placing fourth in the Heisman Trophy ballot. Many football gurus, including veteran NFL coach Buddy Ryan had called Emtman "the best player in the country" leading up to the draft. Colts general manager Jim Irsay was beaming as he talked about this rookie that could "lay the foundation" for a team coming off a 1-15 record, still the Colts' most disastrous season in its history. In his rookie season, Emtman roared 90 yards down the field, with what would be the only interception of his career to score a game-ending touchdown in a victory at Miami. But things went downhill for Emtman very quickly -- a neck and two knee injuries in three seasons ended with the Colts waiving him. Emtman played one season with the Miami Dolphins and another with Washington before retiring in 1997 at the age of 27. Like Emtman, there was another Colts player on the 50 most injury-prone athletes. No. 32 on the list was safety and fan favorite Bob Sanders, who played almost his entire NFL career with the Colts and was a two-time All-Pro. When healthy, Sanders was one of the league's best defenders, yet he missed 10 games as a rookie in 2004 due to foot and knee injuries. Two years later, during the Colts Super Bowl-winning season, a knee injury forced Sanders out of 12 games. He did recover, turned around the defense and caused two turnovers in the Super Bowl victory. After winning the 2007 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, arm, shoulder and knee injuries caused Sanders to miss 32 of the Colts' next 41 regular-season games. Sanders left the Colts in 2010 and spent one season with the San Diego Chargers. But, perhaps, the Colts' biggest injury saga was their franchise quarterback Manning. During the season leading up to the Colts only Super Bowl win, Manning took a hit against Washington, injuring his neck. While he played through the injury for the Super Bowl win and several years after, by 2011, the pain was too intense. Manning had a herniated disc and nerve damage that required multiple surgeries. He eventually had a C3-C4 spinal fusion surgery and underwent experimental stem cell treatments. The injury forced Manning to miss the entire 2011 season and ultimately led to the Colts releasing him, which caused hearts to break across the city for their beloved quarterback. "As I go, I go with just a few words left to say, a few words I want to address to Colts fans everywhere," Manning said March 7, 2012 when his Colts release was announced. "Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart. I truly have enjoyed being your quarterback." While the Colts releasing Manning was due, in part, to concerns about his ability to recover, there were also financial factors, including the salary cap, and the opportunity to draft Luck in 2012. And that's exactly what the Colts did. Luck came in with big shoes to fill and hearts to win over. With his humble, self-proclaimed nerd status mixed with fierce athletic prowess, he quickly endeared Colts fans. But Luck would end up having his own injuries, a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, a lacerated kidney and other ailments. After limited practice time in 2016 due to shoulder problems, he underwent surgery in 2017. As the 2019 season launched, with fans having high hopes of a fresh new season with a healthy quarterback, Luck shocked the NFL world. "I'm going to retire, this is not an easy decision," Luck said after the Colts' preseason loss to the Bears. "This is the hardest decision of my life. But it is the right decision for me." Luck fought back tears as he explained his decision. "(The injuries have) taken my joy of this game away. I've been stuck in this process, haven't been able to live the life I want to live. After 2016, I played in pain. ... I said I wouldn't go through that again." Much like the Colts' back-to-back franchise quarterback injury woes, the Pacers had a double whammy with their 1982 and 1983 NBA first round draft picks, Clark Kellogg and Steve Stipanovich. Kellogg was the 8th pick in the first round, a star player at Ohio State where he earned All-Big Ten Conference and Most Valuable Player honors. He didn't disappoint his rookie season in the NBA, averaging 20.1 points and 10.6 rebounds. His stellar play landed him a deal with Converse for his own signature shoe. But before his second season with the Pacers, the cartilage around Kellogg's left knee began to deteriorate, leading to the first of three surgeries within four years. With each injury and surgery, Kellogg tried to come back, but he missed many games throughout his career. After his third surgery in November 1986, Kellogg realized he couldn't make a comeback this time. He retired in 1987. When he left the game (having played 260 games in total), Kellogg left a stuffed stat sheet, despite his injuries. During his career, he averaged 18.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists. As Kellogg was fighting through his injuries in the 1980s, Stipanovich was right beside him. The 7-foot center was Drafted No. 2 in the 1983 NBA Draft by the Pacers after a stellar career at Missouri. But a severe injury to his left knee caused a dead spot in the bone. The team reported that Stipanovich had undergone multiple surgeries and treatments, including doctors drilling a hole to try to revive the dead area, but none of it worked. The injury was just too serious. 'It seems to have gotten worse,' Stipanovich said of the injury as he retired from the Pacers in 1989 after only five seasons. Modern day Pacers fans may not remember Kellogg and Stipanovich, but many can recall the Paul George injury that sidelined their star player. After being drafted by the Pacers in 2010, and becoming what the team hoped would be a longtime franchise player, George broke his leg during a Team USA basketball scrimmage in August 2014. The injury was a compound fracture of his tibia and fibula that occurred as he attempted to block a shot. George missed the first 76 games of the 2014-15 season, spending months in rigorous rehabilitation, undergoing two surgeries and finally coming back. Then only six games back from that leg injury, George felt a strange pop in his other healthy left leg during a game. It was a strained left calf muscle. With George out for most of the season, the Pacers missed the playoffs for the first time in eight years. The franchise took another hit when Victor Oladipo suffered a season-ending ruptured quad tendon in his right knee in January 2019. Indy fans added the injury to the long list they say has plagued their athletes. "Indy is cursed. The sports gods don't like us," Dustin Schuman wrote in an email to IndyStar at the time. "Or maybe there is something in the water." With Haliburton's latest injury and fans still awaiting Caitlin Clark's return to the WNBA, today's Indy fans will continue to debate whether their star athletes' injuries are just a normal part of pro sports or something else. "It is not a curse," Bob Hittle responded to IndyStar's post, "but a run of bad luck."
