EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State men's basketball is dancing once again this season as a seven seed in the NCAA tournament.
The Spartans will travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on No. 10 USC. That game will take place on Friday, March 17th at 12:15pm on CBS.
MSU is 19-12 this season and the Trojans are 22-10. The winner of that game will play the winner of No. 2 Marquette vs. No. 15 Vermont on Sunday March 15th.
This is the 25th consecutive year that the Spartans will play in March Madness. It is a Big Ten record and is the third-longest in NCAA history.
USC finished tied for second place in the Pac-12 standings with a 14-6 league record.
"What does it mean to me? Probably everything," said Tom Izzo when asked about 25 straight trips to the tournament. "Probably more than any other thing because it means you've had a group of people that have bought in to a system and you as the head coach have maintained some sort of consistency over a long time. And 25 years, probably would've had 26 if it weren't for covid, but 25 years is a long time but I still hope the best is yet to come,".
Michigan State is making its 36th appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a record of 70-34 (.673) in its previous 35 tournaments. MSU has made 10 trips to the Final Four (1957, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2019) and captured the NCAA Championship in 1979 and 2000. MSU's .673 winning percentage is the eighth-best all-time in NCAA Tournament play, while the program's 70 total victories rank sixth all-time. Michigan State's 10 Final Four appearances are tied for sixth most.
The East Regional is set for March 23 and March 25 (Thursday, Saturday) at Madison Square Garden in New York. The 2023 Final Four will be held at NRG Stadium in Houston on April 1 and April 3 (Saturday, Monday).