Tom Izzo felt a bit of regret for how his team played against Ohio State on an important day at the Breslin Center. Sunday was the final Izzone game for some seniors as the last home game of the season will be during spring break and not everyone will be in town for it.
Izzo knows that the Izzone has carried the team at times this season, and he acknowledged that in his post-game presser after the Ohio State win.
For the first time this season, the crowd didn’t seem engaged in the game and that’s because they didn’t have a lot to cheer about. The Spartans scored just 23 points in the first half of a 66-60 win and the crowd was half asleep watching Michigan State shoot around 25 percent from the field in the first half. It was a really bad game on Michigan State’s end.
That didn’t sit right with Izzo.
Michigan State has played well, for the most part, at home this season and although the Spartans put together a clunker on Sunday, it still sent the senior Izzone members out with a win.
As has become tradition, the Izzone seniors got to come out and kiss the logo at midcourt after their last home game. While the seniors were lined up all the way to the concourse, Izzo and the Spartans did something that once again proved that the nation’s best culture resides in East Lansing.
Tom Izzo has built an elite culture
While the senior Izzone members were lined up to kiss the logo well after Michigan State’s victory over the Buckeyes, the Spartans filed out of the locker room to show their appreciation.
David Harns of Spartans Illustrated captured the cool moment.
The players came out of the locker room to thank the senior members of the Izzone, who are lined up to kiss the Spartan logo. pic.twitter.com/fgoYbhUmmY
— David Harns (@DavidHarns) February 22, 2026
How many programs send their players out after they had already rounded the lower bowl for post-game high-fives like they always do and after all the general admission fans leave just to thank the student section seniors one final time? I can really only think of one.
Michigan State’s elite culture is always on display and that wouldn’t be the case without Izzo. He’s built a culture of respect, among other things, and we saw that on Sunday.
There’s a reason other coaches try to replicate what Izzo has done in East Lansing. He’s done everything the right way.