Correct. And let's not pretend that sparty has no talent. They have at least a half-dozen top 100 players on the roster along with a five star and a player of the year candidate. For some reason they just aren't meshing like usual.
MSU has beaten Kansas, Providence, Florida, and Louisville. That is 4 wins over top 25 RPI teams (according to ESPN RPI anyway). Heck even with the two losses to Iowa, they are still 4-2 vs top 25 RPI teams, which is pretty good.