Tom Izzo excited for the opportunity to play in Sweet 16

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans are on their way to the Sweet Sixteen in this year’s men’s tournament. For Izzo, this is trip number 15 to the third round of the championship tournament. And it might not seem like it when you hear the Spartans headman talk, but he is excited for this opportunity to coach in the Sweet Sixteen. And Izzo also knows his players are eager to play in it as well.

“I’m as excited as you can be about the opportunity,” said Izzo. “Not only do you play in a Sweet Sixteen, but it’s in New York City, which for me, isn’t as big as I think it is for players. But it is in Madison Square Garden, which is the Mecca of all basketball. And for that, I think we’ve played there once, they have a little experience being there. And yet, we’re going to be excited to be in there playing against a great team with a chance to play an Elite Eight on the line; it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Making it to the Sweet Sixteen was no easy task for Izzo and his Spartans. In the first round, Michigan State had to take out USC in a highly competitive matchup between the East Region’s no. 7 seed and no. 10 seed. The Spartans outlasted the Trojans to advance to the Round of 32, earning a date with the region’s 2-seed Marquette. In a battle between two coaches with significant tournament experience, Izzo and Marquette’s Shaka Smart, it was the Spartans headman who bested his contemporary, snagging an opportunity to play in this year’s Sweet Sixteen after a 69-60 victory.

Up next from Michigan State is the 3-seed Kansas State. Before the start of this college basketball season, many anticipated the Wildcats to be in rebuild mode. But that couldn’t be any further from the truth. Kansas State was one of the better teams in the deep Big 12 conference, finishing the regular season 23-8. They finished the regular season third in the Big 12 (11-7) behind regular season champs Kansas, and Big 12 tournament champs Texas. While Kansas has since been eliminated, Texas still marches on and Michigan State will be looking to make another top Big 12 team bow out earlier than anticipated.

The two college basketball powerhouses are set to face off Thursday evening on TBS. That game is scheduled for an evening tip-off at 5:30 p.m. CT.