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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:03 So Donnie, let's go around the country in college basketball.
00:06 And we start with one of those big upsets yesterday in East Lansing.
00:11 Michigan State entered the year with the fourth best price to win a national
00:14 championship, ranked fourth in the preseason AP poll.
00:18 Booked as a 16.5 point favorite, Donnie, at home inside the Brez.
00:23 We thought MSU and Tom Izzo were going to roll to a victory over James Madison.
00:28 The Dukes had other ideas, winning in overtime as a 16.5 point underdog.
00:34 79-76 the final, Donnie.
00:37 James Madison pulls off the number one stunner of night number one of this
00:42 college basketball season.
00:44 >> Yeah, we figured we'd get one of those.
00:45 We didn't have those marquee matchups like you would see.
00:47 Like, okay, opening night in Madison Square Garden, Duke takes on Kentucky, and
00:50 then the back end of a double header is two other really good basketball teams.
00:53 Like, okay, measuring stick here to start our season.
00:55 We'll see what we need to work on.
00:57 These are all layups here across the top 25, and rightfully so.
01:00 You wanna just get your feet wet here.
01:01 You're at home, you wanna pound an opponent, get those good vibes together.
01:04 But yesterday, looking at all of those spreads, 15 points, 20 points,
01:08 30 points, at that point I said, you know what?
01:10 There's usually a stunner each and every year, and
01:13 we'll get to the women's game in just a few moments here.
01:15 But look, Michigan State goes down opening night.
01:17 Does that mean they're out of the tournament?
01:18 Does that render the regular season meaningless?
01:21 No, it doesn't.
01:21 It just means that college basketball has a ton of parity from top to bottom, and
01:25 some of the randomness, like opening night, play your best basketball and
01:29 get beat, that's gonna happen.
01:30 >> Let's bring in our Sports Grid radio audience, Donny.
01:34 They've been waiting out there.
01:35 We need to bring them in because they are now here with us on this Tuesday,
01:40 live on the Early Line.
01:41 He is Donny, I am Ben.
01:42 You're listening on Sirius XM Channel 159 and
01:46 all of our other radio terrestrial affiliates now in the fold.
01:49 Donny, the thing about college basketball that is very different than
01:53 college football, of course, two very different sports, but
01:56 you can lump them together, is losing in the non-conference is not going to
02:00 completely derail your resume as long as it does not derail your season.
02:06 Now, if Michigan State ends up near 500 or near the bubble,
02:09 the James Madison loss is going to weigh heavy.
02:12 Although JMU picked as the favorites to win the Sun Belt this year, so
02:16 they are going to be, we would think at this moment, an NCAA tournament team if
02:21 they can win their conference tournament in the Sun Belt.
02:24 All that to be said, Donny, it's not going to be this glaring black eye on their
02:29 resume as long as Michigan State performs at the level we expect.
02:34 But if last night's performance out of MSU, their first home loss in November
02:38 since 1986 is an indication of how the Spartans are going to play this year,
02:44 then it's a very different story.
02:46 Donny, I had Michigan State winning the Big Ten before this year got underway.
02:50 Obviously, not pleased with the result last night, but
02:53 a very good talented young group of freshmen.
02:55 They're in East Lansing alongside some veterans,
02:58 a few of them who no showed looking at you, AJ Hogard, last night for
03:03 Michigan State, but I think they will find their footing.
03:06 They move back by $3, Donny, does MSU in the national title odds,
03:10 15 to 1 entering the year, now plus 1800, but still the fourth best price.
03:15 Again, not the be all end all of this year.
03:18 They'll play about 30 regular season games, more in the Big Ten tournament and
03:22 should be an NCAA tournament team.
03:25 I mean, they've made it for more than two and a half decades consecutively under
03:29 Tom Izzo, but it's not a way you wanna start your season by any means.
03:35 [MUSIC]