Michigan State reached the Sweet Sixteen with two weekend wins in Spokane, Washington, giving Coach Tom Izzo 12 such milestones since 1998. The only coach ahead of Izzo on this list is Mike Krzyzewski.
But how does that compare to the (now) "great" John Beilein? The "Beilein Era" is seven years long. During those seven seasons, Beilein has made the Sweet Sixteen twice. He has also had two losing seasons and a first-round exit from the Big Dance. That makes four total NCAA invitations.
In the same seven-year period, the Spartans have made the Sweet Sixteen six times, as part of their 17-year consecutive tournament streak.
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MICHIGAN GETS AN EASY PATH
Speaking of UM, they sure have an easy road in the NCAA Tournament this year. They opened against a #15-seed, then played a #7-seed in the second-round. Their next opponent is a #11-seed, and there appears to be an excellent chance that they would play a #8-seed if they win on Friday.
To recap, that's #15, #7, #11, and (maybe) #8. Barely more difficult than the NIT teams the UM women are playing through right now.
Why mention this fact? Only because so many Michigan fans downplayed (or even downgraded) any past MSU tournament run during which the Spartans played low-seeds on the way to a Final Four. Not saying UM will reach the final weekend, but you can see they have quite the cakewalk to get there.
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"Why mention this fact? Only because so many Michigan fans downplayed (or even downgraded) any past MSU tournament run during which the Spartans played low-seeds on the way to a Final Four."
ReplyDeleteSo that makes it okay for you to do it? I thought Sparty's were better than that.. Guess not.
My interpretation of SM82's post was more a case of, "it's easy use that argument when your team is sitting at home, but just be willing to be judged the same way you clean things up and get this position regularly".
DeleteHowever it landed on you, I don't think there is any thing wrong with reminding people of what a loud segment of the UM fan base was saying in the past and pointing out the reality of the present.
Go State! Go Vols.
We are not "Sparty's." We are Spartans. It is not disrespecting Michigan to point out the seeds of their opponents. It is not disrepecting anyone to complare one team's opponent seeding to another.
DeleteLikewise it is not disrespecting anyone to point out that trolls are trolls.