The past two years of Michigan State basketball have featured a much more motivated Tom Izzo after declaring that he would get the Spartans back to the top “or die trying” following a 2024 NCAA Tournament loss to North Carolina.
Since that statement, Izzo has 57 wins, a Big Ten title, a Sweet 16, and an Elite Eight. He also brought in an impressive class in 2025 and he has a top-five group coming in 2026.
All of this hard work has been paying off. There’s only one problem, though: Michigan just went from 8-24 in 2023-24 to national champions this season and that has to drive Izzo absolutely crazy. He watched his most hated rival go from one of the worst teams in the country to the best Big Ten team in decades in just two years. That’s only going to motivate him more.
But that also comes with more pressure.
It doesn’t seem like it just yet, but as the 2026-27 season approaches, we’re going to be hearing more about how Michigan State should be a title favorite and how Izzo needs to win No. 2 this year or else he may never get another shot. That might seem a little dramatic, but Izzo will have potentially his best team since the prime Cassius Winston days and he’s probably a center away from being the No. 1 preseason team in the country.
I’ve already seen a dozen projected top 25s for next season and Michigan State is in the top five of most of them and Seth Davis even has it as the No. 1 team in the country.
The pressure is mounting on Izzo to win No. 2.
Tom Izzo can make this nightmare end
Seeing your biggest rival win the national title isn’t for the weak. It’s a painful thing to watch, especially since they were the best team all season and it wasn’t some sort of fluke.
It’s been a nightmare season for Michigan State fans, and that’s unfortunate because the Spartans had a really good team of their own that probably should have gotten another shot at the Wolverines if they just held on to beat UConn. The nightmare reached its apex on Monday night as Michigan cut down the nets and Dusty May hoisted the national title trophy, but Izzo can make it end.
While it’s going to be a very long 365 days until next year’s title game, if this nightmare scenario is going to end, Izzo has to add an elite portal center or at least one with a ton of potential while retaining his current roster in order to make it to Detroit for the Final Four. Making it to the Final Four doesn’t quite end the nightmare, he needs to bring home title No. 2 as well.
The pain can go away if Izzo follows up Michigan’s national title with one of his own.
It’s a lot to ask and it’s going to take the best coaching job of his career along with an elite transfer center, but he can make this whole thing right. Seeing Michigan win has to make him more fired up than ever to get it done.