Michigan State basketball picked up its best win of the season on Sunday afternoon over a really good Illinois team and both teams were reffed equally, but only one side is continuing to gripe about it.
Obviously Michigan State fans aren't going to continue to complain after securing the win, but even if the Spartans had lost, we would be able to point to reasons why: ineffective defense, poor rebounding, missed free throws early, and non-existent shooting from deep.
Illinois fans, and some media members, are blaming the refs for the Illini's 80-78 loss to Michigan State in East Lansing.
It's been over 24 hours and these fans are still complaining about the refs on the internet and have been for the past day and a half, claiming Michigan State's win was "fraudulent" and the refs were "crooked" claiming that Tom Izzo paid them off.
There's a reason people don't take Illinois basketball fans seriously.
These are a few of my favorite "the refs were crooked and Illinois should have won" tweets from both Illinois fans and some regional media members that show that ball knowledge isn't for everyone.
Cheating. Crooked. Corrupt. Getting the whistle they paid for.
— The Kingfisher (@TheKingfisher18) January 19, 2025
Credit to Sparty, but this Illinois team likely beats Michigan State 8 out of 10 times on a neutral floor.
— Brad Evans (@NoisyHuevos) January 19, 2025
The whistle in this game has been laughably egregious.
Not as good as Illinois and probably the 4th best team in the conference behind Illinois, Michigan, and Purdue.
— Chris Hossfeld (@Hossman83) January 19, 2025
These are just the three I bookmarked following the win because, well, they each made me laugh and they just show that fans don't like taking accountability for their team's shortcomings.
Had Michigan State lost and we all pointed to Frankie Fidler getting tackled on a drive to the hoop with no foul in the second half or Jase Richardson getting hit on every drive to the basket with no call or the blocked shots that were clearly all ball as the reasons it happened, we would have to take a long look in the mirror because that's embarrassing for an entire fanbase to do.
Maybe one day they'll be realistic.