Two More NCAA Tournament Records for Tom Izzo!
January...February...IZZO!
Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo already set a new record earlier this March when he led the Spartans to an NCAA Tournament bid for the 25th consecutive time.
And now, two games into this year's 'Big Dance', Izzo and Michigan State are making more history.
The 7th-seeded Spartans' 69-60 upset win over 2-seed Marquette was Izzo's 16th win as the coach of lower-seeded team in an NCAA Tournament game, which passed recently-retired Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim for the most in history.
With the victory, Michigan State advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 15th time in in Izzo's career and the first time since 2019. This is the sixth time that Izzo has taken a team seeded No. 5 or lower to the regional semifinals, which also breaks a tie with Boeheim for the most in NCAA Tournament history.
It's likely that the head coach's record 16 wins with the lower-seeded will stand for quite some time. The next closest active coach is Auburn's Bruce Pearl, who has won nine such games. While Izzo admitted to being on the "back-nine" of his career after Michigan State beat USC on Friday, he's still expected to coach for several more years and it won't be a shock to see him add to his total over that time.
Speaking of active head coaches, Izzo has now tied Kentucky's John Calipari for the most Sweet 16 appearances.
The Spartans' 15 trips to the regional semifinals is the second-most of any program over the last 25 years, trailing only the Duke Blue Devils (18). Kansas and Kentucky, both of which were eliminated in this year's Round of 32, each have 14 Sweet 16 appearances in the last quarter-decade.
Izzo and Michigan State will get a chance to add to their lower-seeded wins in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, when they square off with No. 3 seed Kansas State. The Spartans have opened as a 1.5-point favorite according to oddsmakers.
