Tom Izzo vs. Duke. It’s a tale as old as time, and it’s one that hasn’t gone the way of Michigan State very often. The Spartans have beaten Duke a couple of times, but the Blue Devils have had Michigan State’s number over the years.
Izzo and Coach K had some legendary battles, but the Duke Hall of Famer got the better of the Michigan State Hall of Famer more often than not.
The most memorable win for the Spartans, however, came just seven years ago when Izzo and the Spartans upset Duke which had Zion Williamson and several other NBA player. That was thought to be one of the best Duke teams of all time and Cassius Winston and the Spartans were able to get the better of the Blue Devils to advance to the Final Four.
That win was a perfect example as to why Izzo’s nickname is “Mr. March” — he gets the job done in the NCAA Tournament when no one expects it.
Coach K remembers that game fondly, and he spoke about it on a recent podcast with Pat McAfee. He also talked about Izzo’s nickname, taking a friendly shot at his long-time adversary with a comment about winning national titles.
"Tom Izzo is the creme de la creme of coaching..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 16, 2026
He's Mr March but I always tell em you wanna be Mr April because that means you won the thing"
😂😂 Coach K #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/0NpcprMPpl
You can’t even be mad at that light-hearted jab by Coach K because he says it to Izzo himself. It’s not like he’s saying this behind his back. Coach K admitted that he tells Izzo all the time that he’d rather be Mr. April and that’s something that the Michigan State head coach would agree with wholeheartedly.
Izzo is happy with Michigan State’s success as a program since he’s been there and he doesn’t take it for granted, but he’a not satisfied. He wants more and I truly believe he’ll win No. 2 before he retires. I don’t know if it’ll be this year, but he’ll have the talent.
Izzo is going to silence all the doubters before he hangs it up, I truly believe that.
Duke and Michigan State seem to be on a collision course — again
UConn may be the favorite in Michigan State’s half of the East Region, but I think the Spartans are being selected as much as anyone to come out of that bottom-half to face Duke.
If that’s the case, this would be yet another March matchup between Duke and Michigan State. It feels like the two teams have a silent contract that says that they must be in the same region of the NCAA Tournament every single year. I’ve seen this movie a million times before.
This Duke team is loaded, too. It has college basketball’s best player along with a deep bench and a team that won the ACC Tournament without two key starters.
Michigan State will be David once again to Duke’s Goliath if the teams meet in the Elite Eight. Let’s hope we get a repeat of that 2019 NCAA Tournament showdown.