Like It Is

Blue-collar Spartans don't fit into slippers

At a glance, a very brief one, Michigan State looks like the Cinderella of the Final Four.

The Spartans, a No. 7 seed, finished in a three-way tie for third in the Big Ten, with losses to Minnesota, Illinois and Nebraska, which might not win an intrasquad game.

They lost a nonconference home game to Texas Southern, winners of the SWAC.

At 8-to-1, they are the least likely to end up falling on the floor and crying tears of joy Monday night.

No doubt they are the sentimental favorite. Everyone seems to love Tom Izzo, who by the way is 1-8 against Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, even members of the media.

An attempt to contact Izzo was made here when his former assistant Stan Heath was hired to be the head basketball coach at Arkansas in 2002.

Izzo didn't return the call. Go figure.

The truth is, Michigan State is about as much of a Cinderella as the wicked stepmother.

The Spartans have banged and bulled, scratched and clawed their way to Indianapolis, and by far had the toughest road of any of the teams left standing.

They beat No. 10 seed Georgia, 70-63, No. 2 Virginia 60-54, No. 3 Oklahoma 62-58 and No. 4 Louisville in overtime, 76-70.

In beating Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 10, their average margin of victory was slightly less than six points, but they are still standing, along with No. 1 seeds Kentucky, Wisconsin and Duke.

Kentucky beat Nos. 16, 8, 5 and 3 with all but Notre Dame being easy; Wisconsin beat Nos. 16, 8, 4 and 2 with the last three victories being by seven points; and Duke beat Nos. 16, 8, 5 and 2 and only the game with No. 5 Utah was close.

Big Ten play no doubt prepared the Spartans for the NCAA Tournament. Michigan State and Wisconsin comprise half the field, giving their conference lots to brag about.

If it wouldn't bring an unwanted amount of emails, it could be written that the Big Ten is like the basketball version of SEC football in recent years. So, it won't be written, even though it is a good analogy. Admittedly, the Big Ten is also the defending National Champs in football.

The ACC has one team in the Final Four, Duke, but the conference with six bids in the tournament looks great at 15-5. The Big Ten got seven bids and is 11-5 . The Pac-12, which had four bids, finished 8-4.

If it wouldn't bring a slew of unwanted emails, it would be pointed out here the only other league to receive the princely sum of seven bids was the Big 12, which went 5-7. Pitiful. The SEC is 6-4 with Kentucky still fighting on.

So Michigan State isn't a Cinderella, but it is something of a surprise, even to the students who gathered in East Lansing's Cedar Village and tossed around bagels. No one still knows why bagels.

By today the bagels have been trashed, or eaten, and the celebration will be settling into reality as the Spartans prepare for Duke, which had to rely on defense rather than its offense to put Gonzaga away.

No one is more aware than Krzyzewski and Izzo of how far emotion can carry a team, and the Blue Devils will have it drilled into them this week that last year's National Champions, UConn, were a No. 7 seed.

It has been well documented that the East Region's Most Outstanding Player, Travis Trice, a senior guard, told his parents after the game, with tears pouring down his face, "I don't deserve it."

Oh, but he does. Michigan State is not a Cinderella despite being the only team playing in the Final Four that wasn't a No. 1 seed, but the Spartans earned it the old-fashioned way, with hard work.

Sports on 03/31/2015

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