What Winning Another NCAA Tournament Would Mean to MSU's Izzo

The Michigan State Spartans begin their 27th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance tonight against the Bryant Bulldogs in what should be a fun matchup to watch. Not only does it mark 27 consecutive for MSU, but it also represents 27 straight years that head coach Tom Izzo has gotten his team to the promised land.

The Spartans, as a program, have brought home two NCAA championships, most recently coming in 2000 under Izzo's fifth season as head coach. Now, 30 years later, MSU basketball's leader has the same approach to the tournament as he has over his three-decade-long career in East Lansing.

"Everyone wants to think everything changed so much, as I said, still got to block and tackle in a football game, still got to defend and rebound," Izzo said when he joined "The Rich Eisen Show" this week. "Nothing really changes in one-and-done time; if you don't do your job, you go home."

While Izzo has gone through this process with current NBA stars, his mentality hasn't changed, given he gets new players year in and year out. For some of the Spartans players, this is their first exposure to March Madness, and Izzo holds nothing against them if they are nervous.

Izzo expressed what it would mean to win another national championship for MSU, as he wants something to last long after he is gone.

"Personally and professionally, it would mean a lot," Izzo told Eisen. "For our school, it would mean a lot. This is what you do it for, you know? Championships and banners are things that, even when this building falls down and I'm gone, they're going to move that banner to the next building. I always talk about things that are going to last a lifetime and then more, and that's what any kind of banner does."

Not only would winning the NCAA Tournament capture MSU's third title in program history, but it would also be a moment in history that Izzo and his players will always share with one another. Whether current Spartans become pros or not, they will always remember this moment they are about to have tonight in the first round.

Tip -off is set for 10 p.m. EST at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.

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