Michigan State and March Madness. March Madness and Michigan State. For 22 straight seasons, we’ve seen the Spartans dancing in the NCAA Tournament. That streak is in serious jeopardy, though.

An 88-58 home loss to No. 15 Iowa on Saturday dropped Michigan State to 10-8 on the season and just 4-8 in B1G play. There’s little doubt now that, if the Spartans want to add another year to their NCAA Tournament streak, they’re going to have to start playing a lot better really fast.

On Monday, head coach Tom Izzo talked about his team’s NCAA Tournament streak and the jeopardy that it’s in. He knows for MSU to have a shot at No. 23, it’s going to take a lot of hard work.

“Of course the streak is important to me,” Izzo said, according to Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press.

“I’m ready to accept that I gotta fight my tail off the last eight games.”

Michigan State still has plenty of opportunities ahead to prove it belongs in the March Madness tournament this year. The Spartans still have games against No. 5 Illinois, No. 4 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan, as well as several other interesting B1G matchups. A few upsets, and MSU might be able to squeak into the field.

Right now, though, things aren’t looking good in East Lansing.

The Spartans gets a chance to rinse the taste of that 30-point loss from their mouths on Tuesday, when they travel to West Lafaeytte to take on Purdue.