MSU's Tom Izzo Placed on Elite National Watch List
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Michigan State's legendary head coach is putting together another good coaching job.
On Friday, MSU's Tom Izzo was one of 15 college basketball head coaches to be named to the Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Watch List. He is one of four coaches from the Big Ten to make the list, alongside Dusty May (Michigan), Fred Hoiberg (Nebraska), and Brad Underwood (Illinois).
Izzo, in his 31st season at the helm in East Lansing, is coaching another Spartans team that is defying some preseason expectations. He made this list last season while winning the Big Ten by three games after beginning the year unranked.
Michigan State began this season ranked 22nd, but has played above that level all season. The Spartans are currently 15th in the AP Poll at 21-5 overall and 11-4 during Big Ten play, with their best mark of the season being when they were ranked seventh on Jan. 26.
More on Izzo, Challenges Ahead for MSU
It's going to take another quality coaching job from Izzo for MSU to go far at the tail-end of its season. Izzo has said plenty of times this year that his team doesn't really have a wide margin for error. Certain things have to go right for Michigan State to beat higher-end opponents.
There will be several other opportunities to see how the Spartans handle quality competition before heading into March Madness. Four of the five remaining opponents on MSU's schedule are NCAA Tournament contenders, with its next game being against bubble team Ohio State on Sunday (1 p.m. ET). Michigan State ends the regular season with games at No. 7 Purdue, at Indiana, Rutgers, and then at No. 1 Michigan. The Big Ten Tournament draw is still very much TBD.
This will be an opportunity for MSU to have another late-season surge. The Spartans got out of a rut against UCLA with an 82-59 blowout win after having lost three of their previous four games. Last year's MSU team also lost three of four around the same time, but then flipped a switch and won its final seven regular season games.
The schedule is more difficult this time around, especially with those road games at Purdue and Michigan, but the most important thing is go into the Big Ten Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament with momentum. Teams that carry momentum and are playing their best basketball into those single-elimination settings are generally going to perform better than those who don't.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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