Spartan Men's Basketball Announces 2001-02 Schedule
8/22/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 22, 2001
2001-02 Schedule
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State University announced the 2001-02 schedule for the four-time Big Ten Champion men's basketball team on Wednesday. This year's slate could feature up to 17 home games, the most regular-season home contests in the history of Spartan Basketball. The Spartans have won 44-consecutive games at the Breslin Center, the longest active streak in the nation.
Michigan State is guaranteed 16 home games, with a possible 17th contest in the Breslin Center in the second round of the Preseason NIT. Besides the Preseason NIT, December games with Arizona and Seton Hall highlight the non-conference home schedule.
In addition to the solid home slate, road games at Virginia (Richmond, Va.), Florida and Stanford (San Francisco, Calif.) ensure that a young Spartan team will be well-tested by the time the Big Ten season rolls around. This is in addition to any team MSU could possibly face at the Preseason NIT semifinals and finals in New York City.
Basketball fans across the nation will also get many opportunities to see Michigan State as the Spartans will make at least 13 appearances on national television throughout the season, including eight games on ESPN, four contests on CBS and one on espn2. Two Big Ten contests will be shown on the ESPN Plus Regional package with four more airing as part of the ESPN Plus Local package. Michigan State could make two more appearances on national television as ESPN holds an option on the Ohio State game on Feb. 26 and CBS has an option on the regular-season finale with Iowa on March 3. Television rights have yet to be finalized for the Stanford game. In addition, ESPN and espn2 will televise Michigan State throughout the Preseason NIT.
In keeping with a recent trend, the Spartans will play one of the more difficult schedules in the nation. Nine MSU opponents earned a berth in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, including Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State, Virginia and Wisconsin. Four more teams, Detroit, Minnesota, Purdue and Seton Hall, participated in the National Invitation Tournament. In addition, six schools were ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25, including No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Arizona, No. 8 Florida, No. 16 Virginia, No. 20 Indiana, No. 24 Ohio State and No. 25 Wisconsin.
Playing in the Preseason NIT makes the Spartan schedule even more difficult. In addition to Michigan State, the tournament field includes six 2001 NCAA Tournament teams (Arkansas, Fresno State, Oklahoma, Southern California, Syracuse, Wake Forest) and three NIT squads (Detroit, UNC-Wilmington, Wyoming).
Head coach Tom Izzo is looking forward to the challenge presented by this season's schedule.
"I don't think there's any question that the caliber and reputation of some of the teams that we're playing is second to none," said Izzo. "Having a team like Arizona coming to the Breslin Center is phenomenal for our fans. Seton Hall is also a very good team. To also play Florida, Stanford and Virginia on the road is quite a challenge for a young team. With those five teams we have two Pac 10 schools, one Big East, one SEC and one ACC team. We've pretty much covered the nation and we could face even more strong teams in the Preseason NIT.
"Maybe our team early on will not be as well prepared as the last two or three years because of the youth and inexperience. But I believe that playing tougher teams in the non-conference schedule should only help our team in the long run. To play a schedule like this is brutal at any time, but to take a young team to Virginia, Florida and Stanford will make them grow up quickly."
Izzo believes that as his young team gains experience throughout the non-conference season, that the Spartans could be a contender for a fifth-straight Big Ten Championship.
"We realize that the road in the Big Ten will be more uphill than it's been in the past and that Illinois and Iowa are probably the elite teams in the conference," explained Izzo. "And yet I think the key will be that we get better each and every game in the preseason with a murderous schedule which will hopefully propel us into more success during the Big Ten season."
Before Michigan State opens the regular season, it will play an exhibition game with a great deal of fanfare. On Friday, Nov. 2, the Spartans will host the Magic Johnson All-Stars as one of the greatest players in Spartan history returns to play in the Breslin Center for the first time since 1995.
The Spartans will open the regular season by hosting Detroit in the first round of the Preseason NIT on Nov. 13 (7:30, ESPN). The Titans advanced to the Postseason NIT Final Four in 2001 and will be making their first trip to the Breslin Center since 1997. Should the Spartans advance, they will face the winner of the Central Connecticut State-Oklahoma matchup. If MSU wins a second-round game, it will advance to the NIT semifinals and finals in New York City on the Wednesday and Thursday surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday (Nov. 21 and 23).
After the Preseason NIT, the Spartans will face Virginia in the third-annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. on espn2. Although technically a neutral-site game, the contest will be played in Richmond, Va. MSU is 2-0 in ACC/Big Ten Challenge history, having twice defeated North Carolina. The Cavaliers and Spartans have not met since 1949.
Michigan State will then return home to host the Coca-Cola Spartan Classic on Friday, Nov. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 1. Winners of five-straight classics, the Spartans will play Indiana Purdue-Ft. Wayne on Friday at 6:00 p.m. followed by Lamar vs. Maine. The consolation and championship games will be held on Saturday at 6 and 8:20 p.m., respectively.
Following the classic, the Spartans will take to the road again to face a stiff challenge, playing Florida in the rowdy O'Connell Center. MSU defeated the Gators, 89-76, in the 2000 NCAA Championship game and 99-83 in a December 2000 contest in East Lansing. ESPN will televise the Dec. 5 matchup (7 p.m.).
After a home game with Nicholls State on Dec. 9 (1 p.m.), the Spartans will take a week off for academic finals. They return to action on Saturday, Dec. 15 in a 2 p.m. nationally televised game vs. Arizona. CBS will air the rematch from the 2001 Final Four.
The Arizona contest is the first in a stretch of four games in eight days. Michigan State will face UNC-Asheville on Monday, Dec. 17 (7 p.m.) and Oakland on Wednesday, Dec. 19 (7 p.m.). The string of games ends with an ESPN broadcast of a Saturday, Dec. 22 (2 p.m.) contest with Seton Hall.
Michigan State will wrap up the non-conference portion of the schedule by facing Stanford on Dec. 29 in the Pete Newell Classic. The Cardinal posted a 31-3 record in 2000-01, capturing a third-straight Pac-10 championship before advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
Big Ten Conference action begins for Michigan State on Saturday, Jan. 5 on the road at Minnesota (4:37 p.m., ESPN Plus Local). In fact, six of MSU's first nine conference games are on the road. Following a nationally-televised game on Tuesday, Jan. 8 at Indiana (7 p.m., ESPN) the Spartans will play their Big Ten home opener vs. Wisconsin on Saturday, Jan. 12 (12:17 p.m., ESPN Plus Regional). On Saturday, Jan. 16, MSU hosts Purdue (8 p.m., ESPN Plus Local).
The Spartans hit the road for four of the next five beginning with games at Penn State on Saturday, Jan. 19 (12:17 p.m., ESPN Plus Regional) and Iowa on Tuesday, Jan. 22 (7 p.m., ESPN). MSU did not play at Iowa in 2000 and will not host Penn State in 2001. Following an eight-day layoff, Michigan State will host Michigan in the only meeting of the year between the two intrastate rivals. The Wednesday, Jan. 30th contest will start at 8 p.m. (ESPN Plus Local).
MSU returns to the road on Sunday, Feb. 3 for a CBS clash with Illinois (1 p.m.). It will be the first of two meetings on the year between the 2001 Big Ten co-Champions. Next is a Wednesday, Feb. 6 contest at Northwestern (8 p.m., ESPN Plus Local). It will be the only regular-season matchup between the teams.
Five of Michigan State's final seven Big Ten games will be in the friendly confines of the Breslin Center, beginning with a nationally-televised Sunday afternoon contest vs. Ohio State on Feb. 10 (1 p.m., CBS). Just two days later on Feb. 12, Illinois will journey to the Breslin Center for a 7 p.m. ESPN broadcast. The Illini did not have to play in the Breslin Center in 2000.
On Saturday, Feb. 16 Michigan State will play at Purdue (7 p.m., ESPN). The Spartans did not play at Mackey Arena in 2000. MSU then returns home for a pair of nationally-televised games, including Thursday, Feb. 21 vs. Minnesota (7 p.m., ESPN) and Sunday, Feb. 24 vs. Indiana (12 p.m., CBS).
The Spartans begin the last week of the season on the road at Ohio State on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The game will be played at either 7 p.m. (ESPN) or 8 p.m. (ESPN Plus Local), depending on who televises the contest. Michigan State wraps up the regular season at home against Iowa on Saturday, March 2 (ESPN Plus Regional, 4:30 p.m.) or Sunday, March 3 (CBS, 4 p.m.).
Michigan State's post-season action will begin in the Big Ten Tournament (March 7-10). Being held for the fourth year, this will be the first time that the tournament will be held at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
