Tom Izzo describes how Michigan State is carrying the torch for Big Ten in NCAA Tournament

Only one Big Ten team made it through the first weekend of March Madness to advance to the Sweet Sixteen and the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. And, fittingly, it was Michigan State and it’s masterful March maestro head coach, Tom Izzo.

Izzo and the Spartans are both the last Big Ten team left in the field this year, and the last team from the league to win a national championship. And that was more than two decades ago, in 2000. As the sole shot for the Big Ten to make a Final Four and win a national title in men’s basketball, Izzo is happy to shoulder the mantle for the league.

“I have heard from most of the coaches in the Big Ten, to be very honest with you. And because, for me, nothing means more than Michigan State, for me. Second on the list would be the Big Ten Conference. Because it’s been good to me, I’ve been a part of it, I believe in it. I love the academic situation we have here. I love the fanbases we have in the Big Ten. There’s so many things we have here that are special. The one thing that we don’t have is we have not won a championship since ours, too many years ago,” Izzo said.

He continued: “And I, myself, have been in three final fours, or four — three for sure, with another Big Ten team. That means half the field was a Big Ten team and we didn’t get it done. And there’s a million different reasons.”

What hamstrung the league this year, specifically, Izzo said, was the parity of the league driving the median seed line down. Outside of No. 1 seed Purdue — which face planted in the Round of 64 — and Indiana as a No. 4 seed, the other six Big Ten teams in the field were seeded as No. 7, 8, 9 and 10 seeds.

Michigan State and Northwestern were both No. 7 seeds, Maryland and Iowa were both No. 8 seeds, Illinois was a No. 9 seed and Penn State was a No. 10. Four of those teams advanced at least to the Round of 32 before getting bounced by a higher seed.

Purdue and Indiana might have fallen short of second-weekend expectations, but the rest of the league basically finished on par with what their respective seeds would suggest.

“I think this year, one of the problems is when we beat the hell out of each other, I don’t think it wore us down, I just think it put us in a position where everybody is a seven, eight and nine seed. Well that’s the toughest place to be in. You’d almost rather be a 12 seed,” Izzo said, explaining that you can dodge playing a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the second round.

It is four, not three times, that Izzo has been to a Final Four with Michigan State when another Big Ten team reached the national semifinals. It was, however, a more frequent occurrence earlier in Izzo’s tenure, as the years MSU and another Big Ten team made the Final Four under him are: 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2015.

While it’s been unfortunate that the league hasn’t secured a national championship, Izzo thinks it’s only a matter of time before a breakthrough.

“I know I’ve got a lot of guys in our league that are competitors, most of the time, that are probably pulling for us for a variety of reasons. And that’s all good. It really is good. And I feel bad that six other times we’ve been there and haven’t been able to get it done. But you keep knocking on that door, someday,” Izzo said, tapping his fingers on the microphone stand to create a knocking nose, “Cinderella, that slipper fits some day. You just gotta keep knocking on it.”