Tom Izzo gives thoughts on history with Duke

Two of college basketball’s biggest brands will meet yet again on Tuesday, as Duke and Michigan State will square off in the State Farm Champions Classic in Chicago.

Both schools are rich in history and have established themselves as two of the most successful programs across all of college basketball, and ahead of their latest matchup, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo was asked about the track record between the two teams.

“Listen, this has been a very good rivalry in its own way for two teams that aren’t in the same conference,” Izzo said. “Unfortunately, they have one more [championship] than we have, but I think 90% of the games have been very very very good games and I expect this will be a dogfight too.”

The Blue Devils actually have three more titles than the Spartans historically, boasting five NCAA Championships compared to Michigan State’s two, but there’s no question that both programs have attained of a level of success that many others dream of.

The two teams last squared off in 2022 when they met in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, a game where the Blue Devils took home an 85-76 win in an electric game that eventually led them to the Final Four. And given the talent in this year’s regular season matchup, the expectations are high for this one as well.

“They’re very talented, very talented,” Izzo said. “They play a lot of three guards, in fact sometimes they’re playing three point guards. So what I would say is it’s two programs that have done it the right way, two programs that there’s been great respect for.”

The last time Duke and Michigan State squared off it legendary Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski‘s final season with the program, as a new chapter of the series will start Tuesday after Coach K boasted a 13-3 against the Spartans in his career, which Izzo also touched on.

“I’m a little mad at Mike that he didn’t let us win a few more of those games, but other than that I recruited Jon Scheyer. I’ve known Jon, he’s done a good job there, some of the staff’s the same yet it will be different not looking down there and not seeing Mike Krzyzewski. That’ll be different for me for sure, but they’re in good hands, they’re doing well, and hopefully we are too,” Izzo concluded.

Izzo and Scheyer will square off for the first time on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in a game airing on ESPN.