Traverse City Record-Eagle

Sports

Related Photos

April 2, 2009

Mike Eckert: Not yet, MSU

By MIKE ECKERT

Sometime next fall, a banner will be raised to the rafters at Michigan State's Breslin Center saying "Final Four, 2009."

Beating top-ranked Louisville last Sunday and advancing to the national semifinals for the fifth time under coach Tom Izzo was no doubt cause for celebration. But the Spartans shouldn't be satisfied with just getting this far.

This Michigan State team is deep, multi-dimensional and capable of beating any of the other three schools still dancing. But, the Spartans won't do anything more if they rest on their laurels and buy into all of the attention they've received this week.

Don't get me wrong. Win or lose today, this has been a great season for Michigan State. The Spartans won their first Big Ten title since 2001, racked up 30 wins, made another Final Four and proved to the country that they're one of the best teams in the nation.

Great season, but this has the potential to be more. It could be magical.

Making Final Fours is now routine for the Spartans. Winning there has been a different story. With the exception of the national championship run in 2000, Izzo is 0-3 with lop-sided losses to Arizona (80-61) in 2001 and North Carolina (87-71) in 2005.

I'm sure North Carolina didn't get overly excited about reaching the Final Four last weekend. The Tar Heels have done it 18 times. The mark of their program is four NCAA titles.

Michigan State is on the brink of joining that elite company of Indiana, North Carolina, Kentucky and UCLA. But they're not there yet.

To be elite, the measure of success is a different type of banner hanging from the arena rafters, one that usually includes trophy cases and rings on the fingers of players and coaches.

When Kentucky introduced John Calipari as its new head coach on Wednesday, he talked about how the Wildcats don't hang banners for anything other than national titles. That's elite.

For Michigan State, there is no time like the present to join the big boys. Don't be satisfied with another Final Four berth. This time, take care of business.

The problem is that the Spartans put so much emphasis all season into just getting this far.

Advancing to this weekend's Final Four continued a streak that proves Michigan State's dominance over the last decade. Since taking over for Jud Heathcote in 1995, any player Izzo recruited that stayed four years made it to a Final Four.

How's that for a recruiting tool?

Add to it the lure of playing this year's event in Detroit, something the Spartans have been focused on since the Motor City was announced as the host site years ago. Izzo used it as a bargaining chip when recruiting sophomores Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers years back out of the Detroit area.

No doubt, playing a Final Four in your home state is a big deal and it hasn't happened since Duke reached the 1994 Final Four in Charlotte. But wouldn't playing -- and winning -- a national championship there be even bigger?

Not that it will be easy. Talk all week has been on how much of an advantage the Spartans will get playing 90 minutes down the road from East Lansing, but can't it also work against them?

Michigan State already lost once at Ford Field this season -- and it was ugly. North Carolina pounded a fatigued and injured group of Spartans in a 98-63 drubbing back in December. Don't forget that Michigan State also lost at home this year to Northwestern and Penn State, while racking up an 8-1 road record during Big Ten play.

And while the pressure is always on the home team, multiply that by 70,000 if Ford Field turns into a sea of green and white today.

Good teams, though, find a way to handle adversity. And that's exactly what Michigan State will have to do this weekend.

Make no mistake, the Spartans are capable of getting past UConn on Saturday and either North Carolina or Villanova. They have skill players, a deep bench and one of the best coaches in the country.

They are -- dare I say -- an elite program.

Text Only