March Madness 2023: Ranking Tom Izzo’s best coaching jobs as Michigan State enters Sweet 16

When No. 7 seed Michigan State takes the court against No. 3 seed Kansas State at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, it will mark Tom Izzo’s 15th Sweet 16 appearance in 28 seasons as the coach of the Spartans. The Hall of Famer has guided the program to 25 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and has a national title from 2000 to highlight his résumé.

What makes Izzo’s legendary tenure so unique, though, is his ability to extract the most from his teams. To have survived the first weekend in 15 of the past 25 NCAA Tournaments is remarkable, especially considering the Spartans have been a No. 1 seed just four times over that span.

Regardless of what happens against the Wildcats on Thursday, this season must enter the conversation as one of Izzo’s best coaching jobs. Michigan State spent most of the season unranked while plodding along with an unremarkable competence. It never fell below .500 in conference play and never seemed in serious jeopardy of missing the NCAA Tournament.

However, the Spartans struggled to string multiple victories together in Big Ten play and never truly looked like a threat to compete for a league title. Izzo has made a habit of pushing such teams to their maximum capacity during his career, and now his 2022-23 Spartans are the last Big Ten team standing in the NCAA Tournament.

Here is a look back at some of his best coaching jobs from nearly three decades on the job. There are many to choose from, but here’s one take on the five best in descending order.

5. 2012

Unranked preseason, made Sweet 16 as No. 1 seed

Within the context of a team that was unranked in the preseason on the heels of a 19-15 campaign, the 2011-12 team stands out as one that put the program back on track. The Spartans dropped their opening two games against North Carolina and Duke and didn’t reach the AP poll until a month into the season. But they won 10 of their final 12 games entering the NCAA…


Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/march-madness-2023-ranking-tom-izzos-best-coaching-jobs-as-michigan-state-enters-sweet-16/

Author : David Cobb

Publish date : 2023-03-22 19:56:33

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