Tom Izzo shares his best MSU teams to not win a national title

Tom Izzo has coached some elite teams while at Michigan State.

Since taking over for Jud Heathcote in the mid-1990s, Izzo has won 11 Big Ten titles, made eight Final Fours, and he's even won a national championship. Winning it all isn't easy in college basketball, so when he was able to accomplish that feat in 2000, it felt like he'd win plenty more before he retired.

Unfortunately, that's been his only national title as he's been chasing No. 2 for the past 25 years. It's been a long journey, but he's come close to winning that elusive No. 2 multiple times.

Fans have debated which teams probably should have won the national title over the years, but didn't, and the consensus is usually the 2013-14 team that lost to Shabazz Napier and UConn in the Elite Eight. There's also Cassius Winston's senior year that got cut short by COVID-19.

But what does Izzo think? He shared the teams he thought could've won it all but didn't, and they match with what a majority of Michigan State fans have picked.

In Rick Pizzo's interview with Izzo, the Hall of Fame head coach said that the 2013-14 team that lost to UConn, the 2015-16 team that got upset by Middle Tennessee, and the Cassius COVID team all probably could have won it all but didn't. It's clear that those teams were special, but never accomplished what they were capable of accomplishing.

I'd have to agree with Izzo. These teams all had what it took to win it all, but an all-time upset claimed one of their hopes (2015-16), a historic UConn run claimed another (2013-14), and COVID claimed the third.

That 2015-16 team with Denzel Valentine leading the way probably should have made a Final Four run, but for whatever reason, Middle Tennessee decided not to miss a single shot. You just know that game still haunts Izzo because that team was an offensive machine.

I can't think of three teams more deserving of the "best Izzo teams to never win a title" distinction.