| Michigan State Spartans The decision to favor the Big 10 brand over accuracy is understandable. Founded in 1896, the Big 10 is the oldest Division I college athletic conference in the United States. The conference as a whole provides nearly a hundred million dollars annually in direct financial aid to over eight thousand male and female student-athletes. In addition to the conference’s athletic prowess, it also has a well deserved reputation for high academic standards. In the 1985 book Public Ivies, nine of the Big 10’s 10 public institutions (Northwestern is the only private university in the conference) were deemed to “provide an Ivy League collegiate experience at a public school price.” For the fourth season in a row, 2007-08 saw five or more Big Ten teams earn twenty or more regular season wins in men’s basketball. Wisconsin set a school-record with 31 wins, the Michigan State Spartans recorded 27, the Purdue Boilermakers and the Indiana Hoosiers each won 25 contests, Ohio State won 24 and Minnesota notched 20 wins. Awesomeseating.com is your go-to broker for NCAA Basketball tickets. Whether you’re looking for cheap seats behind the backboards, a luxury sky-box or something closer to courtside, we’re your Awesome ticket broker for Michigan State Spartans tickets for the basketball regular season and Michigan State Spartans postseason tickets. The Spartans basketball team has been Big 10 conference champs 10 times, including a run of 4 consecutive championships from 1998 to 2001. The Spartans have been NCAA Men’s Basketball Champions twice, in 1979 and 2000. In the 2000 tournament the Spartans entered as the #1 seed after a 32-7 1999-00 regular season. They disposed of the #16 seed, Valparaiso, 65-38 in the first round and # 8 Utah 73-61 in the second to make it to the Sweet Sixteen. # 4 Syracuse was Michigan States’ next victim, falling 75-58. #2 Iowa State lost to the Spartans in the Elite 8 round by 11 points, 75-64. To make it through the Final Four the Spartans played defense against Big 10 rival Wisconsin Badgers and won 53-41 to face Florida in the Championship. The Spartans took the title with an 89-76 victory. In the course of the 6 games it took to win the national title, the Spartans never won by less than double digits. Possibly the most remarkable element in the Michigan State basketball program is the stability of the head coaching position. Over the past 30+ years the Spartans have had two head coaches. Jud Heathcote led the team from 1976-95, compiling a 340-194 won-loss record for a .637 winning percentage, 1 NCAA Championship, 9 appearances in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and 3 Big 10 Conference Championships. Since the 1995-96 season the Spartans have been coached by Tom Izzo, who has maintained the high standards set by his predecessor, compiling a 313-132 won-loss record for a winning percentage of .701, 1 NCAA Championship, 11 appearances in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, 4 Final Four appearances and 4 Big 10 Conference Championships. |