Ranking Michigan State’s Most Impressive Final Fours Under Tom Izzo
Mar 29, 2015; Syracuse, NY, USA; The Michigan State Spartans celebrates with head coach Tom Izzo after the game against the Louisville Cardinals in the finals of the east regional of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Carrier Dome. The Michigan State Spartans won 76-70. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
1. 2015 Michigan State Spartans (27-11)
Yup, you guessed it. This 2015 version of the Michigan State Spartans has put together the most impressive Final Four run of any team in the Tom Izzo era – and frankly, it’s not that close.
If I challenged you to name one player on this team that would surely be a future NBA star, could you do it? Probably not. All of the teams in the past had guys that were stars of the current squad and likely stars at the next level. This one may have two guys who could potentially get selected in the upcoming NBA Draft, Branden Dawson and Travis Trice, but there are no sure-things.
Junior Denzel Valentine joins the two seniors mentioned above as the third star of this team of average Joes. What’s more impressive is that this MSU team has made the Final Four as the lowest seed of any Final Four team during Izzo’s tenure.
Although the Spartans may have been a bit under-seeded at No. 7 heading into the tourney, this team has been an underdog all along, nonetheless.
Their round of 64 win over Georgia is one that most everyone predicted, but a huge upset win over two-seed Virginia in the round of 32 was quite the shock. The Spartans then went on to take down the No. 3 seed in the East (Oklahoma) as well as the No. 4 seed in the East (Louisville) on their way to a seventh Final Four in 17 years – the most of any program during that time.
This team was not supposed to be here, but this just goes to show, if Izzo can bring this squad to the Final Four, he can bring anyone to the national semifinal.
The question is: can the 2015 Spartans actually win it all?