College basketball analyst Andy Katz is expecting a notable drop off from the Spartans next season.

Katz released updated power rankings for the Big Ten, and he has the Spartans dropping to the middle of the league next year. In his rankings of all 18 Big Ten schools, Katz has the Spartans coming in at No. 7.

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Ahead of Michigan State is Purdue (No. 1), Michigan (No. 2), Oregon (No. 3), UCLA (No. 4), Illinois (No. 5) and Wisconsin (No. 6).

Michigan State won the Big Ten by three games last season and went the deepest of any team from the league in the NCAA Tournament in reaching the Elite Eight. The Spartans, however, have lost a number of key contributors from last year’s squad — including Jaden Akins and Jase Richardson.

I personally have Michigan State right around the same spot as Katz but can understand some Spartans fans considering this a slight for the defending conference champs. I wouldn’t be surprised if Michigan State surprised some folks again and ended up near the top of the league as we saw this past season.

Check out the full video of Katz breaking down his rankings below:

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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Big Ten power rankings have MSU landing in middle of pack