Locked On Spartans - Daily Podcast On Michigan State Spartans Football & Basketball · Locked On Podcast Network, Matt Sheehan

FINAL FOUR: Can Tom Izzo’s Spartans BEAT the ODDS? Why Jeremy Fears is the key to Michigan State's run

·33 min·2 clips

Evan says Jeremy Fears is “number two” nationally in his indispensability score.

1. Locked On Spartans frames Michigan State basketball’s path through March around Tom Izzo, Jeremy Fears, and bracket seeding. 2. Ross Jackson hosts the show, and Evan Miyakawa of EvanMiyakawa.com joins as the analytics guest because his ratings and bracket simulator shape the discussion. 3. The episode asks whether Michigan State can beat the odds in March and which player drives the run. 4. Evan says his website’s forward-looking ratings place Michigan State ninth, which he considers Final Four-threat territory. 5. He says Michigan State sits below teams like Michigan, Duke, Arizona, and Florida, but still has a path to beat better seeds. 6. Evan says the Spartans’ roster looked worse on paper than the other top-10 teams, yet Tom Izzo has made them fit together. 7. He says Michigan State is “more than the sum of their parts” and that Jeremy Fears connects the pieces. 8. Evan points out that Michigan State can punch above its weight against teams that may underestimate them. 9. He says the Spartans’ track record includes being the kind of team that can upset a higher seed in March. 10. Jeremy Fears becomes the focus again when Evan calls him one of the most indispensable players in the country. 11. Evan cites his “indispensability score” and says Fears ranks second nationally behind Cameron Boozer. 12. He compares Fears with Bruce Thornton, Braden Smith, Axel Lundeborg, and Bennett Stirt as other high-use point guards. 13. Evan says Fears has been a better scorer and playmaker as the season has gone on. 14. Jackson Kohler gets a separate spotlight when Jackson says Kohler’s first made three at the top of the key often changes the game. 15. Evan backs that up by saying Kohler is the team’s second-most valuable player and a major defensive presence. 16. Carson Cooper also comes up in a discussion of the Big Ten all-defensive team, with Evan saying the statistics support Cooper’s case. 17. The conversation shifts to Michigan State’s weakness, and Evan says depth is the biggest concern because the talent drop-off is steep after the top players. 18. Evan then compares Michigan State’s bench numbers with Illinois, UConn, Iowa State, and other tournament teams and says foul trouble or extended bench minutes could matter. 19. The episode stays conversational and data-heavy, with Jackson joking through bracket hypotheticals while Evan answers with rankings, metrics, and matchup notes. 20. Fans who follow Michigan State basketball, Big Ten bracketology, and college hoops analytics will get the most out of it. 21. Listeners wanting a general sports talk show without seeding or roster analysis should probably skip it.

As heard by us

A sharp March preview that backs Jeremy Fears and keeps Michigan State's depth front and center.

Jeremy Fears gets the strongest case here, backed by numbers rather than hype, and the episode keeps returning to why Michigan State's March run still feels fragile.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want Michigan State's March case with the weak spots stripped bare and loud.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Locked On Spartans - Daily Podcast On Michigan State Spartans Football & Basketball