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Streak still alive: Michigan State punches ticket to March Madness, extends postseason streak under Tom Izzo

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

The streak was in doubt for quite some time, but Michigan State is indeed going dancing!

With a late-season push that included wins over Illinois, Ohio State, and Michigan, Tom Izzo and the Spartans are officially in the NCAA Tournament. The announcement came Sunday afternoon with Michigan State squeaking into the 68-team field.

Michigan State made it into the tournament as a part of the “Last Four In” line, setting the team up for a dramatic and tough First Four matchup. Instead of facing 6-seed BYU off the bat, the Spartans will have to face UCLA as a part of the First Four. The winner of the game between the Bruins and Spartans will be the 11-seed representative against the Cougars.

Regardless of the draw, Michigan State will keep its streak of NCAA Tournament appearances alive at 23 seasons straight. The last time the Spartans missed out was in 1996-97, Izzo’s second year in East Lansing:

Michigan State will also bump up into the second-longest active streak for consecutive tournament appearances. Duke was riding a streak of 24 straight appearances but was left out of the field.

Hopefully, Izzo and the Spartans can work some of their March magic and turn their 11-seed into another deep run.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.