Once again, I am probably going to piss off a ton of Wisconsin Badger fans by the title of this blog post because Bo Ryan has shown dominance over Michigan State's Tom Izzo in the regular season. Badgers fans would have to correct me but I think the record is something like 10-3 against Izzo. Then again, they never faced each other in the NCAA Tournament.
Izzo helped guide his Spartans to their second-straight Final Four and this is his sixth Final Four in twelve years. Let that sink in with you... That is a crazy stat if you really think about and only Coach K's run through the late 80s into the mid 90s could compare with that in modern day time. No way, no how can you put anyone with John Wooden's run with UCLA so I didn't even mention him because he is in a league of his own.
Unlike the coaches I mentioned in my argument with Doz, Izzo knows how to win in the late month of March. Somehow, someway he finds a way to win. I would argue that only Izzo's National Championship team in 2000 was the best team in the tournament. The Flintsone legacy in those three years cannot be overlooked, they were a one seed three straight years and made it to the Final Four all three times. Also let me mention that this is the second time, they have gotten into the Final Four as a fifth seed, this year you could say it was a lucky draw but Northern Iowa, in my opinion was a damn good team.
To the B-Squared's of the world, do not hate on Izzo for "just making the Final Four." Like I said in the previous paragraph, rarely is Izzo's team the one favored to win it out of the four remaining. The fact that he gets to what people would consider the Super Bowl of the NCAA College Basketball because there is so much build-up to it and excitement, rarely do people look forward more to Monday (For me, 2003 and 2005, only years that stand out). Izzo is a mainstay in the second weekend of the tourney and I am beating myself up for not riding Izzo to the Sweet 16 (c'mon who would believe they beat Kansas).
On to their actual team, I feel this team has a ton of heart. Especially after two close games, the Spartans knows how to win without Kalin Lucas. I love the late game heroics of various guys from Korie Lucious, Delvon Roe, Durrell Summers, and Draymond Green (also let me add the Dancing Bear will be awesome next year). People forget that they have veteran leadership from Raymar Morgan that got buried in this whole season with all the hype building on Lucas. I wouldn't be shocked if the Spartans finished the deal for Izzo's second crown.
-Charlie.
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