What battle for Final Four spot would mean for Michigan-Michigan State basketball rivalry

ATLANTA – History is on the line for the Michigan State Spartans, led by Naismith Basketball Hall-of-Fame head coach Tom Izzo, and the Michigan Wolverines, led by Dusty May, if they can clinch a Final Four spot.

Both teams are on a collision course in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament as they’ll be playing inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Friday (March 28) in the Sweet 16.

The Spartans tip off first as they’ll take on the Ole Miss Rebels at 7:09 p.m. EST, followed by Michigan, which will take on the Auburn Tigers at 9:39 p.m. EST.

If both teams get past their formidable opponents, they’ll play each other in the Elite 8, which would be a first for the in-state rivals.

Both teams will hang a banner next season as the Spartans took home the Big Ten Conference championship while the Wolverines took home the Big Ten Tournament title.

But having the potential to go through one another to get to the Final Four would be the stuff of legend.

The impact for both schools would be monumental, as they’ll be two wins away from winning their first NCAA championship in a very long time.

Michigan State Spartans

For the Spartans, making it to the Final Four would be huge for the already cemented legacy of Izzo, who hasn’t won a title since the turn of the century, as he, Jason Richardson, Mateen Cleaves, and Morris Peterson went on a run for the ages.

First, MSU finished the regular season (23-7, 13-3 Big Ten), taking home a share of the Big Ten Conference title with the Ohio State Buckeyes while being ranked No. 2 in the country.

Izzo then captured the Big Ten Tournament for the second year in a row by taking down the Illinois Fighting Illini, with Peterson and Cleaves being named to the All-Tournament Team and Mo Pete being named the Most Outstanding Player.

The Spartans were then awarded the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the Midwest Region, where they cruised to the Sweet 16 after beating Valparaiso and Utah.

Izzo then reached the Final Four with wins over Syracuse and Iowa State before eliminating Wisconsin to reach the championship game.

With the national championship on the line, the Spartans took down the Florida Gators 89-76, giving Izzo his first and only championship.

With the team he has this year, he has a chance to grab his second title as he has his team humming.

With Jase Richardson, son of Jason, looking to be a future first-round pick leading the way, Izzo has the opportunity to reach his first Final Four (8 appearances) since 2019 and his first title since 2000.

Fans of the program have been waiting 25 years since Izzo won his first. A victory during his Jubilee year would be historical due to the Richardson connection.

Plus, winning the national championship would be the school’s third, with its first title coming at the hands of Erving “Magic” Johnson and Greg Kelser back in 1979.

Michigan Wolverines

For the Wolverines, reaching a Final Four would be monumental for the school as it’ll be their first appearance since former head coach John Beilein's 2018 team, led by Moritz Wagner, Isaiah Livers, Jordan Poole, Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Zavier Simpson, and Duncan Robinson.

Beilein also had the chance to win in 2013, led by Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Glenn Robinson III, and Mitch McGary, but fell to Louisville in a heartbreaker.

May, like Izzo, could make history, as the Wolverines have not won a national championship in basketball since Glen Rice, Terry Mills, Rumeal Robinson, Rob Pelinka, and Loy Vaught took down Seton Hall in 1989.

The 1989 team was led by head coach Steve Fisher, who became the first first-year head coach to win a national championship against a 64-team field.

Technically, the team was led by Bill Frieder, but he took a head coaching job with Arizona State before the start of the NCAA Tournament, causing athletic director and Wolverines football legend Bo Schembechler to fire him and name Fisher as the interim coach.

Rice was named Most Outstanding Player as he scored 184 points in six games to help the Wolverines capture the title.

May has the opportunity to join Fisher as he is aligned on the same trajectory with the Wolverines, just four wins away from re-creating history regarding first-year coaches.

Michigan has already become the fastest team to basically go from worst to first, as they went 8-24 last season to prepare for battle in the Sweet 16 in just one year.

But if he can make it to a final four with the help of L.J. Cason, Tre Donaldson, Roddy Gayle Jr., Vladislav Goldin, and Danny Wolf, May would create more history as he would be the first coach to have made the Final Four in his first season, joining North Carolina’s Hubert Davis who did it recently back in 2022.

The championship in 1989 is the Wolverines’ lone title, while the Spartans have two, one to end the 1970s and another to start the new millennium.

Sweet 16

Both fanbases and their alumni are starving for another championship, so a trip to the Final Four for both teams is pivotal.

However, the Spartans and the Wolverines will first have to go through each other in the Elite 8, which would be a first in NCAA Tournament history as they’ve never met under those circumstances.

Standing in their way are formidable SEC opponents in the Ole Miss Rebels for MSU in the Sweet 16 and the Auburn Tigers for U of M.

The Spartans game tips off at 7:09 p.m. Friday, March 28, and the Wolverines tip off shortly after at 9:39 p.m. inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

If both teams advance to the Elite 8 and play against one another, it would be glorious for both schools as the goals and dreams for the winner would be in plain sight.

Oh and of course, bragging rights of ending your rivals season is always an added plus.

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