Gary Harris and Sparty are in control of the Big Ten right now and deserve to be in discussion with IU and UM. (US Presswire)

It began with a loss in Germany to a Connecticut team ravaged by a loss of talent that wasn't even eligible for the postseason. Then came the setback against a Miami club that had come up short against Florida Gulf Coast.

We did it. Again. We forgot about Tom Izzo and Sparty. It's a cardinal rule, maybe the cardinal rule.

Well, Michigan State is now 17-3 and in first place in the Big Ten with a 6-1 mark. The only setback in the league came at The Barn against Minnesota, and there's no shame in losing to Tubby Smith's team on the road this season. The Spartans, though, will enter Sunday's road game in Bloomington against Indiana having won six straight and coming off victories over Ohio State and in Madison against Wisconsin.

"We're not that good," Izzo told me. "But we're getting better."

The issue for Izzo is trying to get everyone clicking at the same time. It just hasn't happened yet. He said his mentor and former Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote called him the other day and said he needs to find a way to get both guards and a couple of the bigs to play well at the same time.

"We can't seem to get it all together," Izzo said. 

But the Spartans' starting unit, especially when talented forward Adreian Payne is playing with intensity, stacks up against just about anyone -- including both Michigan and Indiana. They have a point guard in Keith Appling who is improving, one of the toughest wings in the country in Branden Dawson, a veteran big man in Derrick Nix and a talented freshman guard in Gary Harris. 

Izzo said he thinks the recent incident involving Dawson and Payne, the scuffle over a practice jersey in a Penn State hotel room, may have wound up lighting a fire with the players.

"I think it might have served us well in some ways," Izzo said. "I was pissed. You know how many fights we've had over the years? What upset me was the way it happened and the fact it was on game day."

Michigan State still heads into Bloomington as a clear underdog, but this is a Spartans team that deserves to be mentioned in the same breathe as the Hoosiers and even a Michigan team that could elevate itself to the No. 1 spot in the land come Monday.

It's a team with talent, confidence -- and Izzo.