They call Tom Izzo “Mr. March” for a reason. And the numbers give creedence to that. Here’s what the Michigan State Spartans have accomplished lately:
9 wins as a lower seed since 2003 (most in college basketball)
66-27 in March/April since 1999
35 NCAA Tournament wins since 1998, second most in the nation
The 15 years Izzo era in East Lansing has seen 9 sweet sixteens, 7 elite 8s, 6 final fours, 2 title games, and 1 national championship.
However, this was by far the worst season Izzo has ever had, and this is the lowest seeded team in the NCAA Tournament he’ll ever have. If State makes it to the second weekend this year, then truly March means everything and the regular season means nothing to MSU. I know, we say that every year.
By Paul M. Banks
“I don’t know what it feels like to not be playing in March, definitely don’t want to get that feeling. Sometimes you jsut survive and advance,” said junior forward Draymond Green.
March is his favorite month and it contains his birthday. Although he has the perfect name for his programs colors, and they’re playing on St. Patrick’s Day, the day everyone “goes green,” the Spartans are still 0-6 all time on March 17th, and 0-2 all time as a #10 seed.
Durrell Summers was last year’s Midwest Regional MOP, averaging almost 19 ppg. But no one in the Big Ten, and perhaps the nation has regressed as poorly as he has this season. His NBA Draft stock right now is Enron. If he gets it going somehow than this team will certainly become anything but “Kalin Lucas and a bunch of guys,” like ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb said during the Bracketology special. Tom Izzo heard that and took great offense. Still MSU is 7-2 when Summers scores 14 or more, 12-12 when he doesn’t.
There’s been much to criticize this year at Mich St., especially the turnovers and lackluster efforts in midseason, but here they are, back in the tournament for the 11th consecutive time with at-large berth; only Texas has more all-time consecutive at large berths with 13. Four teams, including the Marquette Golden Eagles and indiana Hoosiers have made runs of 10.
“We haven’t been 100%, we had our ups and downs. At the same time we stuck together as a team and kept fighting,” Kalin Lucas said.
The matchup with #10 seed UCLA and Ben Howland means this will be the first time ever the round of 64 in the tournament features two coaches that have at least three Final Fours apiece. And the last six Final Fours have featured one of these two teams.
State probably has the edge in the backcourt, but the Bruins have advantage up front. They have three guys who average more than 12 ppg, and possess a great inside-outside combination in sophomore forward Reeves Nelson, junior guard Malcom Lee.
It’ll be an interesting match-up with the Pac 10’s second place team. Like last year, another Michigan State tourney game coming right down to the last possession.
“We always make it exciting, it’s been like that all three years that I’ve been here, always something exciting in March,” Delvon Roe said.
Should the #2 seed Florida Gators get past the Gauchos of #15 UC-Santa Barbara, a very likely scenario, you’ll see an exact rematch of the 2003 sweet 16 game, in which the Spartans were again a #7 seed and upset #2 UF. It’s also a rematch of the 2000 national title game won by State 89-76.
The rest of the bottom half of the Spartans bracket is entirely as unpredictable as any in the tourney. Three of the most difficult to size up teams in the nation reside there with Gonzaga, St. John’s and (post Brandon Davies) BYU.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, a Midwest webzine. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, the Tribune’s blog network, Walter Football, Yardbarker Network, and Fox Sports
He does a weekly radio segment on Chicagoland Sports Radio.com and Cleveland.com
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank