Spartans Strive For Elite Status
3/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 31, 2005
By LARRY LAGE
AP Sports Writer
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan State wants to be considered an elite program, worthy of being mentioned with the two teams the Spartans beat to get to the Final Four and the one they'll face in St. Louis.
Michigan State became the first team to knock off Duke and Kentucky in the same NCAA tournament, winning the Austin Regional and earning a Final Four matchup with North Carolina.
"I'm really excited about the opportunity to play the third giant," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said Tuesday.
The Spartans would have to sustain the excellence they've achieved under Izzo for decades to approach the status of the Tar Heels, Blue Devils and Wildcats. But Michigan State's recent accomplishments - four Final Four appearances in seven seasons - stack up with any program in college basketball.
The Spartans have been to more Final Fours since 1999 than Duke or Connecticut. In 2000, Michigan State won the school's second national title, and first since 1979.
North Carolina was the last team to make such frequent trips to the national semifinals, making it there four times from 1995-2000.
When Michigan State (26-6) tips off Saturday night against the Tar Heels (31-4), Izzo will join former Ohio State coach Fred Taylor as the only coaches in NCAA history to advance to four Final Fours in their first 10 seasons.
Michigan State is in the NCAA tournament for an eighth straight year and it has advanced to at least the round of 16 six times during the stretch, trailing only Duke in ability to survive the first weekend since 1998.
"I look at (the accomplishments) and say, `Wow,"' Izzo said. "But they're never as impressive when they're about your own program as they would be if they showed those same stats about somebody else.
"All of those things are just stats, but they do help you get the goal I want to achieve and that's to put this program on a level that people won't say we're impostors if we have one down season."
Gus Ganakas, Michigan State's head coach from 1969-76, said the Spartans have already reached elite status.
"With this group going to the Final Four, every player that has come to play for Tom and stayed four years will be able to say he went to a Final Four. That's impressive," said Ganakas, an analyst on Michigan State's radio broadcasts. "Tom is way too humble to admit it, but he's reached the goal for this program that he's always talked about striving for."
As Ganakas predicted, Izzo insisted Michigan State has not yet reached the lofty status enjoyed by the likes of North Carolina and Duke. But Izzo acknowledged an unexpected trip to the Final Four brings him closer to his goal.
"This is definitely another giant step in the right direction," he said. "Now, if we win another national championship, that's another step in the right direction."
If the Spartans win a third national title, they would join UCLA (11), Kentucky (7), Indiana (5), North Carolina (3) and Duke (3) as the only schools to reach that total.
