On the heels of our conversation here about the great guards of Spartan seasons past, MSNBC.com’s Beyond the Arc has anointed MSU the 15th greatest college basketball program. He provides a nice overview of Spartan basketball achievements through the years (including a nod to our look at MSU’s rebounding during the Izzo era). Here are the big picture numbers:
MSU’s been to six Final Fours (more than Georgetown or Cincinnati), has won 67 percent of its NCAA tournament games (better than Indiana), has logged 22 appearances in the Big Dance, has 10 regular-season conference titles to go with 1,418 wins, more than its fair share of great NBA players and hasn’t missed an NCAA tourney since 1997.
And probably most memorable, they’ve cut down the nets twice in the NCAAs – the first of which vaulted the NCAA tournament into must-see TV.
(I note that the 11 NCAA appearances MSU has now made under Tom Izzo are exactly half of the total appearances for the program.)
Looking at the list of likely candidates for the next few slots above MSU (Arizona, Florida, Maryland, NC State), we’ll probably be able to make a reasonable argument for being a couple spots higher. We’ll wait for Beyond the Arc to make his case for teams 11-14 before we file a formal protest.
But the three programs just behind us on the list aren’t too shabby: Georgetown, Arkansas, and Ohio State. Michigan State is clearly among the all-time elite programs.
