Michigan State basketball's Tom Izzo becomes all-time Big Ten wins leader
02/16/2025 01:29 AM
Michigan State basketball head coach Tom Izzo continued to add to his Hall-of-Fame legacy with his team’s win over Illinois. A week after tying Indiana legend Bobby Knight in Big Ten wins, the Spartans’ head coach now stands alone in this stat. And it doesn’t look like the 70-year-old is slowing down anytime soon. The No. 11 Spartans picked up a critical victory on the road to remain squarely in the conference title hunt.
The 79-65 result gave Izzo his 354th conference win, surpassing Knight’s previous record of 353. The Iron Mountain, Michigan native is currently in his 30th season in East Lansing.
Tom Izzo has been a beacon of consistency with Michigan State basketball
Michigan State has been Izzo’s first and only head coaching job on the college level. He took over in East Lansing after serving twelve years as an assistant under Michigan State icon Jud Heathcote. Izzo was hired to lead what was a consistent NCAA Tournament team under Heathcote in 1995 and built it into a perennial Final Four team.
After a few years of rebuilding, the Spartans’ young head coach began to show the rest of the nation why he eventually earned the nickname “Mr. March.” Between 1998 and 2010, the Spartans made it to a staggering six Final Fours. The program had only been to this stage two times before Izzo took over. The height of this era was in 2000 when Michigan State basketball won its second national championship in program history.
Since 2010, the Spartans have remained perennially elite, making multiple second-weekend runs in March. This year’s squad looks poised to be another team no one wants to face in the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans are 20-5 and 11-3 in Big Ten play. Michigan State brings a versatile attack with ten players in its rotation and not a single averaging more than 13.5 points per game.
While tonight is a time for Izzo and Michigan State basketball as a whole to celebrate, the road going forward does not get any easier. The Big Ten powerhouse faces five ranked teams in its last six games, including two clashes against rival Michigan. The No. 20 Wolverines currently lead the conference in the regular season title race.
Michigan State was not included in the NCAA Tournament bracket reveal. This team will have many opportunities to correct mistakes and create an easier path for itself. But regardless of what happens over these next few weeks, the one thing that will remain the same is that the Spartans will be a force to be reckoned with in March. That’s been the reality since Tom Izzo took over in East Lansing.
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