Bumped. - BN
After hearing of the Bruins' (fortunate or unfortunate, depending on your viewpoint) draw in today's selection show, I thought I would do a little research on our history with Tom Izzo, the widely respected head coach of the Michigan State Spartans. Following are a few facts for thought or discussion.
Izzo's first and only head coaching gig started at Michigan State in 1995, following Jud Heathcote. Izzo has been labeled among other things as "Mr. March" and even called "the best basketball coach in America." The following are some of his accomplishments:
- 14 straight (and counting) NCAA tournament appearances
- 6 Final Fours
- 2 National championship games
- National Champion in 2000 over, interestingly enough, Florida.
Longest tenured coach in the Big Ten currently known for rebounding, strong guard play and defensive tenacity. Gee, that sounds familiar.
Continued after the jump.
Only three coaches, since the tournament field was expanded to 64 (now 68) have made three straight final four appearances. They are Coach K., Izzo and CBH.
Head to Head: Howland vs. Izzo
12/20/03 Pauley Pavilion; UCLA 64-58
12/21/04 Breslin Center; MSU 76-64
11/20/07 Sprint Center Kansas City; UCLA 68-63 (KLove 21 pts. 11 rebounds)
As far as I could see Izzo and Howland never matched up when CBH was at Pitt or Northern Arizona.
Record in NCAA Tournament on St. Patrick's Day
Howland 1-1; 2005 loss to Texas Tech 66-78; 2007 beat Indiana 54-49
Izzo 0-2; 2006 loss to George Mason; 2007 loss to N. Carolina
UCLA since 1980: 4-2 on St. Patrick's; Michigan State since 1980: 1-5.
The history outlined here is favorable for UCLA, but probably meaningless to some degree. CBH and Izzo have never matched up in March. If UCLA is fortunate enough to advance then a similar historical match-up with Florida would obviously not be as favorable for the Bruins.