Michigan State Basketball: Tom Izzo ranked No. 5 coach for 2022-23

Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo may not be coming off a great season with the Spartans but he’s still considered one of the greats.

Tom Izzo is a legend in the college basketball landscape. Not only is he one of the most winningest head coaches of all time, but he’s also a Hall of Famer and a former national champion with Michigan State basketball.

Although if you asked Izzo what he thought about how his career has played out to this point, he’d probably tell you that he should have more championships and he hasn’t accomplished nearly as much as he would have liked.

But even though he’s hard on himself over his eight Final Fours, 24 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, one national title, and numerous Big Ten Tournament and regular-season titles, he is widely respected by fellow coaches, opposing players, and the media.

All you have to do is look at the annual ranking of college basketball’s top head coaches.

Isaac Trotter of 247Sports posted his ranking of the top 25 coaches in college basketball ahead of the 2022-23 season after two legends retired.

Trotter ranked Izzo No. 5 behind Bill Self (No. 1), John Calipari (No. 2), Scott Drew (No. 3), and Mark Few (No. 4). This isn’t a bad ranking, but given how disappointing the last two seasons have been for the Spartans, this is fairly generous. Plus, this means he’s the best coach in the Big Ten.

Coach K and Jay Wright both retired this offseason so he may have moved up a couple of spots because of that.

A surprise national title-contending 2022-23 season will likely boost him up a spot or two in next year’s rankings. Don’t be shocked if Izzo turns this year’s team into a title contender.