March 19, 2026, 4:32 p.m. ET
Why is Michigan State’s longtime head coach Tom Izzo called “Mr. March”?
Because of his spectacular report after all, together with a 2000 NCAA championship, 11 regular-season Big Ten championships, six Big Ten Tournament titles, eight Final Four appearances, eight National Coach of the Year awards and 28 straight NCAA event appearances (a report streak for a coach with a single faculty) in three-plus a long time at MSU.
The longtime MSU head coach led the workforce to a nationwide title – beating Florida in Indianapolis (the location of this 12 months’s title sport, as nicely) – in his fifth 12 months as coach of the Spartans, although he was an assistant below Jud Heathcote for greater than a decade.
It’s one in all two nationwide titles in Spartans’ historical past. The first one got here from Heatcote’s Spartans, led by Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser, beat Indiana State in Salt Lake City in 1979 for the championship.
Izzo holds an general report of 59-26 in March Madness video games at Michigan State.
Izzo’s run of 28 straight NCAA berths (not together with the 2020 season, when the event was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic) is the longest streak in Division I males’s basketball historical past, rating forward of Gonzaga’s Mark Few (26, energetic), Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (24) and North Carolina’s Dean Smith (23).
His 28 event appearances are tied for fifth-most all-time and second amongst energetic coaches behind solely Rick Barnes’ 30 with Providence, Clemson, Texas and, most just lately, Tennessee.
Izzo is additionally 21-5 within the spherical of 64 (in addition to 0-1 within the First Four spherical).
He was inducted among the many greatest names in basketball when he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Sept. 9, 2016.
How many Final Four appearances does Izzo have?
Izzo’s eight Final Four appearances are among the many most of all energetic males’s coaches: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2019.
A 12 months in the past, MSU superior to Izzo’s eleventh Elite Eight and sixteenth Sweet 16.
Watch Michigan State basketball in NCAA Tournament on Sling TV!
Michigan State basketball vs NDSU, NCAA Tournament time
- Date: Thursday, March 19.
- Time: 4:05 p.m.
- TV: TNT.
- Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York.
Jalen Williams is a trending reporter on the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jawilliams1@freepress.com.
