Things are trending downward for the Michigan State basketball team, which lost at home to Illinois on Saturday and was throttled on the road Tuesday by Iowa. The schedule doesn't get any easier as the Spartans play Purdue, Michigan and Ohio State - two of them ranked in the top 25 - in the next seven days. 

Detroit Free Press beat writer Chris Solari and Lansing State Journal sportswriters Graham Couch and Phil Friend try to get to the bottom of the tailspin, while also gauging where MSU stands with an NCAA tournament bid. Plus, predictions for the Purdue and Michigan games. 

Tuesday was, perhaps, an inopportune time for the Michigan State basketball team to blow a 14-point lead against Penn State - a team below them in the Big Ten Conference standings. 

The Spartans' loss to the Nittany Lions opened up a whole new set of questions for Tom Izzo's squad, including a look back at the Spartans' recruiting effort in recent years. We then look ahead to Saturday's game against Illinois and Tuesday against Iowa. 

The Michigan State men's basketball team has hit its annual Big Ten swoon, as the 17th-ranked Spartans have lost their last two games, getting blown out Saturday at Rutgers then falling at home Tuesday to Wisconsin. 

Graham Couch, Chris Solari and Phil Friend sort through the carnage of those two games, select what changes could (and should) be made to the lineup and preview upcoming games against Indiana and Penn State. 

They round out the show with the latest football news, including the commitment of 3-star QB Bo Edmundson and Marco Coleman's hire as the defensive line coach. 

On this week's Spartan Speak podcast, host Phil Friend, Lansing State Journal sports columnist Graham Couch and Detroit Free Press beat writer Chris Solari break down the Spartans' last two games, beating Michigan on Saturday and Maryland on Tuesday. Then we preview Saturday's game against Rutgers before talking about signing day, two four-star commits and incoming transfer running back Jarek Broussard. 

We saw the duality of the Michigan State basketball program in its past two games - a romp over No. 8 Wisconsin and a dispiriting performance against No. 23 Illinois, although the Spartans nearly won the game. 

So the question is, which MSU team will show up Saturday afternoon at Breslin Center for its game against Michigan? Detroit Free Press Michigan State beat writer Chris Solari and Lansing State Journal sportswriters Graham Couch and Phil Friend try to get to the bottom of that question. 

The Michigan State men's basketball team is coming off a 64-62 loss to Northwestern. And the timing couldn't be worse as the Spartans hit the road for ranked opponents Wisconsin on Friday and Illinois on Tuesday. 

Lansing State Journal reporters Graham Couch and Phil Friend, and Detroit Free Press beat writer Chris Solari, discuss the state of the Spartans, those upcoming games, and make their predictions for those contests. 

Then they move to football, where freshman Ma'a Gaoteote has entered the transfer portal and Georgia DB Ameer Speed is transferring in. 

Was Michigan State's last-second win over Minnesota on Wednesday night a sign of a top-10 team showing some mettle? Or a sign that the Spartans may not be as good as their 14-2 record indicates? 

Lansing State Journal columnist Graham Couch, sportswriter Phil Friend and Detroit Free Press beat writer Chris Solari dissect the game to kick off the podcast. Then, we move on to discuss:

• The cancellation of last Saturday's Michigan game
• MSU basketball 4-star PG commit Jeremy Fears
• MSU football 4-star WR commit Germie Bernard
• The return of Jayden Reed
• MSU 2022 football schedule

Lansing State Journal sportswriters Graham Couch and Phil Friend, along with Detroit Free Press beat writer Chris Solari, have plenty to say following Michigan State's Peach Bowl win over Pitt. That includes roster changes in the days after, as WR Jalen Nailor and OL Kevin Jarvis declare for the NFL draft, Jayden Reed's future, how the team now belongs to Payton Thorne, and when/if Keon Coleman and Maliq Carr will join the basketball team. 

That's followed by a discussion on the MSU hoops team, which beat Northwestern on Sunday and had upcoming games against Nebraska and Michigan. 

Lansing State Journal reporters Graham Couch and Phil Friend, along with Detroit Free Press beat writer Chris Solari, tackle the Omicron variant head-on as COVID has already altered bowl season and some facets of Michigan State's Peach Bowl game against Pittsburgh. 

The trio also discusses Kenneth Walker and Kenny Pickett's decision to skip the bowl game, the 2022 recruiting class and then shift to basketball to break down the Spartans' nonconference success and Tyson Walker's integral role as the point guard. 

How did Kenneth Walker III go from leading Heisman contender to not even being a finalist for the award in one month's time? The Lansing State Journal's Graham Couch and Phil Friend, along with Detroit Free Press beat writer Chris Solari, are among the befuddled about Walker's omission and break down everything around then. 

That's followed by a discussion about MSU football's Peach Bowl opponent, Pitt, and which players have entered the transfer portal. We end the podcast discussing Spartan basketball and its upcoming Big Ten games against Minnesota and Penn State.