Normally I enjoy reading Jason Whitlock.  I find his articles to be really thought provoking and provocative.  He is a voice that allows young men like myself to see a different side of sports and media.  I will even go far enough to say that Mr. Whitlock knows his football.  Being Jeff George’s boy has really paid off and granted him immense gridiron wisdom.

But we are here to bring into question his opinion on college basketball.  Specifically, the Michigan State Spartans.

Last week, in his Fox Sports column, Jason called out the Spartans.

7. Michigan State is the other top-10 poser.

I don’t care what the RPI says, the Big 10 is the worst major conference this year. I’ve had the pleasure of watching many Big 10 hoops games this year. It’s all unskilled labor in that league.

Michigan State is the perfect poster child to represent the Big 10. The Spartans can’t shoot. They don’t have enough ball-handlers and passers to run a consistent and effective offense. They’re brutal to watch. Thank a higher power that they won’t be around long.

They won’t be around for long? Not really sure what he meant by that. You would think that it meant they wouldn’t make it past the 2nd round. But they did.

Tomorrow night, MSU gets to face off with defending national champion Kansas. Is this where they are supposed to lose, Jason? I mean if they were to win that means they would be in the Elite 8. If they were in the Elite 8 they definitely were around for a long time, and weren’t a top 10 poser, right? See, because 8 is less than 10 (/Math’d).   So they have to be losing to Kansas; that would only make sense. But, then I came across Jason Whitlock’s column in the Kansas City Star. This is the nugget that jumped out at me, especially the first sentence:

The Cole and Collins Show won’t beat Michigan State on Friday.

The second-seeded Spartans, who spanked Kansas in January, looked like a national-title threat on Sunday in their close victory over a highly skilled Southern California squad. Michigan State looks better when it plays outside the Big Ten — all the Big Ten teams do. The style of play in the conference is so physical that the teams beat each other up and look bad doing it.

Against USC, an unfamiliar opponent, the Spartans appeared athletic, smooth and tough. They looked a lot better than Kansas.

So which is it? Are the Spartans “unskilled labor” that is “brutal to watch?” Or are they “athletic, smooth and tough?”  Maybe you’re setting yourself up so that you can say “I told you so” at one place of employment or the other?

You said Michigan State was a poser. A Poser! By the way, who uses the term “poser” nowadays? I was using that term when Shawn Respert and Eric Snow were the original Fire and Ice. But now you have them reaching the Elite 8. That is some heavy back-pedaling Jason, and you have some explaining to do.

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