While Tom Izzo is figuring out a way to get back to the Final Four with Michigan State, the national semifinal is about to take place on Saturday with the title game on Monday.
Izzo has his sights set on roster maintaining — and potentially roster building — this offseason, and he’s already told Tim Staudt that he would be surprised, yet not too surprised, if anyone who’s eligible to return decided to enter the portal. Obviously anything can happen, but Izzo feels pretty good about his team bringing everyone back.
Keeping the roster intact, getting two big pieces back from injury, bringing in a top five recruiting class, and adding a center from the portal and Izzo might be looking at his best chance for No. 2 in quite some time. It could at least get him back to the Final Four.
Speaking of Final Four, this is not an ideal semifinal for Michigan State fans. Aside from the obvious that Michigan State isn’t there, it’s biggest rival is, and it’s the favorite.
From most to least, here’s who Michigan State fans should be rooting for this weekend.
1. Arizona
Is this obvious? Yeah, probably. Arizona is the one team that can end the nightmare for Michigan State fans. The Wildcats have been the best team in the country for a large portion of the season, but Michigan is an absolute wagon right now. That might end up being the game of the tournament.
In my opinion, the winner of this game is going to win it all, so let me make this choice even more obvious for you: would you rather it be Arizona or Michigan winning the title?
The answer is so obvious which is why Arizona is who all Spartan fans should be adopting.
2. UConn
Rooting for the team that just beat yours just feels wrong, but it would also make the Spartans look better if UConn were able to win its third title in four years. Rooting for a team on the verge of a dynasty like that also feels gross, but the Huskies are Michigan State fans’ second line of defense against the Wolverines.
If you’re anything like me, you won’t root for Michigan under any circumstances, even if that means giving UConn yet another national title — do they really need more?
Plus, UConn is the biggest underdog of the four. I’ll ride with the Huskies over the Big Ten teams.
3. Illinois
This might be controversial because it’s the Big Ten, but I think Illinois is a close second in terms of “never rooting for” to Michigan and that’s probably solely because they have one of the worst social media fanbases on the planet. If you ever interact with an Illinois fan on Twitter, get ready to be told that Izzo is washed up and Michigan State is a second-rate program and that the Illini are elite because they win a lot of regular season games.
The Illini making the Final Four was already a tough pill to swallow because their fanbase could be silenced with an “it’s been two decades since your last Final Four” interjection. That’s no longer the case.
An already-outspoken fanbase with a national title would be worst-case scenario — or second-worst. We saw just how annoying that is when Michigan football won it all. Can’t have that again.
And I want Michigan State to remain the last team to win a national title.
4. Michigan
Shocker, right? Michigan State fans who are rooting for Michigan this weekend are likely just not all that invested in the rivalry because not a single diehard Spartan fan that I know would ever root for the Wolverines. Michigan winning the national title in a sport that Michigan State has claimed for decades would be like a stake through the heart. It would hurt really bad.
The ideal scenario here (and yes, I’m not afraid to admit that I want my rival to be bad) would be a Michigan loss to Arizona in the Final Four on Saturday and then Dusty May takes the North Carolina job a day or two later. That would make for a great Final Four.
Also, who wants the favorite to win? Especially when that favorite is your most hated rival.