Tom Izzo and the Spartans Embrace Being #1 While Also Welcoming Back 2000 National Championship Team

Breslin Center East Lansing, MI Tom Izzo isn’t a world class coach by accident. His Spartans are back as the #1 team in all of college basketball for the

Breslin Center

East Lansing, MI

Tom Izzo isn’t a world class coach by accident. His Spartans are back as the #1 team in all of college basketball for the first time since 2013, but he understands while it is a compliment, you want that award in April.

Izzo said of the honor, "I'll really need our players to embrace it and try to build on it and prove everybody right." The Spartans who are 9-0 will have to face Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday with a 7PM tip off at Breslin Center.

Can a small school like Maryland Eastern Shore take down the new number one? Izzo thinks the #1 rank is a bullseye. “I think the disadvantage is that everybody is going to give their best shot and (ask themselves) can we be the ones to give them their first loss.”

But don’t think Izzo doesn’t believe in his new number one team. He said, "Do I think we're the best team in the country right now? No, I don't. Do I think there's anybody head-and-shoulders better than us right now? No I don't."

So while Izzo wants to be number one, he hopes his team uses it as motivation to finish great and works even harder. He added, “What I hope my team does is appreciate the work that went into getting to where we and take that and building on it. And the old adage that the coach is never satisfied, great players are never satisfied! That is what I think separates the good ones from the great ones.”

On Saturday the Spartans will honor their 2000 national title team when they host the Florida Gators (the team they beat in 2000) and that should be the next real test for the Spartans and their undefeated record.

Needless to say, Izzo is excited to have the team that really set him on his path to a Hall of Fame career back in town. “I think pretty much everyone will be back.”  He added, "It makes me realize and remember is that those are the guys that built my part of this great tradition here. Players coming back continues to be the best part of my job so hopefully somehow we can play well on Wednesday and play well on Saturday and get a chance to enjoy the guys that really laid the foundation for what we've accomplished."