Izzo's wins at U-M directly tied to Final Four trips

EAST LANSING – If Michigan State wants to reach the Final Four this season, it would be advised to win today at Michigan.

MSU coach Tom Izzo has never lost at U-M and made the Final Four in the same season. And of his eight wins at Michigan’s Crisler Center, seven of them came during his Final Four seasons – 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2015.

He has won once at U-M and not reached the Final Four, in 2004, with a team that lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

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His 10 losses at U-M have been followed by two NIT bids (1996 and 1997), two first-round NCAA losses (2006, 2011), a second-round loss (2007), three Sweet Sixteen advances (1998, 2012, 2013) and two Elite Eights (2003, 2014).

So while it all may be a coincidence, history says an Izzo team that wins at U-M gets to the Final Four 87.5% of the time (and those teams have six of his seven Big Ten titles and a 31-7 NCAA record).

And it says an Izzo team that loses at U-M gets to the Final Four 0% of the time (and those teams have a 13-8 NCAA record).

For the record, two Izzo teams have not played at U-M, in 2002 (first-round loss) and 2008 (Sweet Sixteen).

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Of the seven U-M teams that lost at home to Izzo’s Final Four teams, just two had winning records and just one made the NCAA tournament, John Beilein’s 2008-09 Wolverines. So most of those MSU wins did not on their own suggest future success.

But maybe they said something about those MSU teams’ ability to perform in emotional and high-pressure situations. And maybe today’s game will give an indication of what to expect from the Spartans in March.

“Rivalry games come down to closer games most of the time,” Izzo said.