Michigan State is mirroring its 2000 national championship run
As the 2025 NCAA Tournament prepares for its second weekend, fans are looking forward to some tasty Sweet 16 matchups.
One of those matchups is No. 2-seeded Michigan State vs. No. 6-seeded Ole Miss on Friday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The Spartans, led by head coach Tom Izzo, last advanced to the Elite Eight in 2019. They’ll be looking to end that six-year drought on Friday and continue their march towards a third national title.
The last time the program lifted the national championship trophy was in 2000, also led by Izzo. Fans who are old enough to remember that March Madness run may be seeing some significant similarities this year.
Statistician Jay Cuda, a Michigan State alum, put together an interesting graphic comparing key aspects of the 2000 squad’s title run and this year’s tournament to date.
The most notable matching categories like having 10 or more players average at least 10 minutes of game time, losing just three conference games all year and winning the Big Ten regular-season title seem rather basic and necessary for any championship-caliber team to compete.
However, others are downright coincidental and somewhat eerie in nature.
For example, the odds of being placed on the left side of the tournament bracket, playing in Cleveland for the team’s first and second round games and facing a Mountain West Conference opponent with a head coach named Richard in the Round of 32 are just astronomical.
In 2000, No. 1-seed Michigan State defeated No. 8-seed Utah 73-61. The Utes were then coached by Richard “Rick” Majerus. On Sunday, Izzo and Co. dispatched a Richard Pitino-led New Mexico team 71-63 (No. 10-seed).
On top of all that, freshman Jace Richardson is the son of Spartan legend Jason Richardson who — wait for it — played on the 2000 national championship team.
The similarities seem too obvious to ignore but only time will tell whether history is truly repeating itself for Michigan State.
